Barcelona advisor admits forward deal 'difficult'; Xavi hopes it happens

Xavi is willing to give every player a chance as Barcelona make their way back up the La Liga table

FC Barcelona advisor Jordi Cruyff feels it will be very difficult to now reach an agreement with Ousmane Dembele over a new deal. The Catalan club tried to persuade the Frenchman to commit his long-term future to the club, but they were unable to reach an agreement after months of negotiations.

Dembele refused the offer on the table, after his representatives felt that their client was being undervalued by the La Liga giants. The France international, while willing to take a pay cut owing to Barcelona's financial troubles, felt they were not giving him a contract worthy of his status at the club, especially after spending £55m to sign Ferran Torres from Manchester City.

Barcelona tried to sell the former Borussia Dortmund winger during the January transfer window, but did not find any suitors. As it stands, Dembele will leave the Spanish outfit on a free transfer in June, which is why interested clubs were willing to wait until the summer.

It was expected that Dembele would be frozen out of the first-team owing to his contract rejections, but Xavi has kept him with the squad. The Spanish manager made it clear that he still values the French forward, and hopes that the club can find a way to reach an agreement over a new deal.

Ousmane Dembele Cristian Trujillo/Quality Sport Images/Getty Images

Cruyff, however, feels a contract U-turn remains a tricky prospect at the moment. The club's advisor believes the only thing for Dembele to focus on right now is to help the team move up the table for the rest of the campaign.

"The situation in respect to the renovation of Dembélé is not easy," Cryuff told Sport. "I believe that what is most important is that he continues helping the team and the rest will come."

Dembele, meanwhile, has repaid Xavi's faith by assisting five goals and scoring one in his last four appearances. The Spanish manager also feels the France international has won over the Camp Nou crowd, who continually jeered him in the face of the contract rejections.

"If you perform you make people happy. The fans can see that he's giving everything for Barca and you can't deceive the supporters. He was great today," Xavi said after Barcelona's 4-0 win over Osasuna on Sunday, as quoted by ESPN.