Barcelona boss Xavi Hernandez has issued a savage response to Ousmane Dembele after the forward released a lengthy statement regarding his future on Thursday.
Barca were hit with a legal warning the same day after a threat was made by sporting director Mateu Alemany that the player has been told that “he must leave the club as soon as possible.”
Blaugrana boss Xavi Hernandez has claimed he feels cheated by the Frenchman and the player was handed a final warning by the coach on Wednesday in what appeared to be a transfer ultimatum.
The Catalan club have already completed the signing of Ferran Torres from Manchester City this month in what appears to be a direct replacement for Dembele in the squad.
Dembele was subsequently excluded from the Barca matchday squad that lost to Athletic Bilbao in the Copa del Rey Round of 16 game on Thursday night with his future apparently short.
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Barca lost the game 3-2 after extra-time – following on from their Spanish Supercopa defeat against Real Madrid the previous week – with Xavi addressing the issue in his post-match press conference.
The boss told reporters: “Dembele is important but it is a club decision and we all agree on it - I don't think his absence has impacted the team.”
Barca paid £105million – in a deal rising to a potential £135m – to sign Dembele from Borussia Dortmund in 2017 in a transfer that has become symbolic of the club’s reckless transfer policy.
He is now out of contract in June and the club risk losing him as a free agent this summer if he does not renew, or he could be sold for a cut-price fee this summer.
Dembele’s exclusion from the squad appeared to be a pointed message that he would not play for the club again unless he penned a new contract.
Yet the demand from Barca’s sporting director Alemany that the player “must leave the club as soon as possible” has drawn the wrath of the AFE Players Union, who say that such a claim is in breach of the player’s contract.
The union believe that such comments infringe on the player’s “labour rights” which come into force when a contract between the two parties is signed.
After Dembele was left out of the squad amid a flurry of media reports, the player released a statement in which he spoke of not “giving in to any kind of blackmail”.
Dembele wrote in an open letter: "For four years gossip about me has been built up, there have been shameful lies about me for the sole purpose of harming me.
"I have never responded, but today it's over.
"I am going to answer without giving in to any kind of blackmail, I dismiss anyone who thinks that I'm not committed to the sporting project, I'm still under contract and I'm fully involved and at the disposal of my coach, I'm not a man who gives in to blackmail."
Dembele’s representative Moussa Sissoko has continually been critical of Barca’s approach to the negotiation process.
Dembele utilises his technical ability, speed, and agility to beat opponents and open defences – with his tactical adaptability also likely to be highly valued by many clubs.
Manchester United, Chelsea, Newcastle and Paris Saint-Germain have been among the clubs linked with a possible move for the Frenchman.
