Barcelona star ready to follow Kylian Mbappe footsteps in contract standoff

Barcelona could be set for a massive financial hit next summer if they lose Ousmane Dembele on a free transfer. The Frenchman, whose contract expires next June, is yet to sign a new deal with the Catalan club.

The La Liga club have been in talks with Dembele and his representatives for a number of months but have failed to make a breakthrough thus far. Barcelona's director of football Matheu Alemany recently suggested that the club were making progress and he remained confident about the France international committing his long-term future to the club.

"His desire is to stay at Barca, his agents too and they are following the project. They tell me they are happy with Xavi's arrival, I am especially optimistic with Dembele and I hope he stays," Alemany said.

Xavi Hernandez, the new head coach of Barcelona, also made his intentions clear about the Frenchman's long-term future after taking over from Ronald Koeman. The Spaniard wants Dembele to remain at the Camp Nou and is keen to help him realise his full potential and recapture the form that earned him a €105 million move from Borussia Dortmund.

However, the LA Liga giants' hopes are expected to be dashed, according to Spanish publication Sport, who report that Dembele has rejected Barcelona's latest offer and is almost certain to leave on a free transfer next summer. The speedy winger is said to be keen to follow Kylian Mbappe's footsteps and complete a big money move to a club of his choosing in the summer.

The report claims that one of the main reasons for Dembele choosing to reject Barcelona's offer is due to clubs outside Spain making him lucrative offers. Apart from hefty wages, interested clubs are also willing to pay him an eye-watering €20 million signing on fee to leave the Camp Nou on a free transfer.

The likes of Liverpool, Manchester United, Bayern Munich and Juventus have been linked with a move for the 2018 World Cup winner. Barcelona could well look to offload Dembele in January in order to recoup some of their investment rather than lose him for nothing when his contract expires in June.