Xavi continues to pressure Barcelona to complete priority deal
Xavi wants to retain key players and is urging the club to improve their contract offers
The Ousmane Dembele saga rumbles on with the Frenchman just 10 days away from leaving Football Club Barcelona on a free transfer. The Catalan club's management, led by sporting director Matheu Alemany, may have given up on keeping him at the club, but manager Xavi is unwilling to give up.
Alemany confirmed earlier in the month that all communications between Barcelona and Dembele's representatives had ceased. The La Liga club has made an offer to extend the speedy winger's deal, but are yet to hear back from Moussa Sissoko - the France international's agent.
Dembele has maintained that he is very happy in Barcelona, but has given no indication as to his intentions with regards to his future. The Frenchman has 10 days remaining on his current deal and could leave the club on a free transfer with Chelsea said to be the frontrunners.
According to Marca, Xavi is not giving up on Dembele and has continued to urge the Barcelona hierarchy to reach an agreement with the 2018 World Cup winner. The Spanish coach feels that the Catalan capital club should improve their offer and make one final effort to keep the player at the Camp Nou.
Dembele was put up for sale during the January transfer window, but his contract situation saw interested suitors decide to wait until the summer. Xavi was expected to keep him out of the first-team owing to the contract stand-off, but decided to give him regular minutes instead.
The 24-year-old repaid the manager's faith with an impressive 13 assists in the second-half of the campaign. Dembele helped Barcelona finish in second place, while forming a strong partnership with former Borussia Dortmund teammate Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang.
Barcelona are mired in financial problems, and are desperately trying to raise funds and slash their over-inflated wage bill. Until the economic situation is sorted, the club is unlikely to offer more wages to convince Dembele to stay.
The Frenchman's departure on a free transfer is certain to help reduce their wage bill, but Barcelona are taking a major hit on a player they signed for over €100 million in 2017. Barcelona's current situation has seen them struggle to register new signings Franck Kessie and Andreas Christensen.
