After winning the classic in Dallas, Xavi scheduled a light activation session early on Sunday at the Thompson Hotel, the home of the Barcelona expedition in Texas. He then gave them the day off. Only if they considered it, the players could return to the hotel for dinner at 8:30 p.m.
Most of the players opted to dine out. Abde, Ansu Fati and Balde formed the first group. Ferran Torres, Pedri, Sergi Roberto and Marcos Alonso the second. Later, Lewandowski, Gündogan and Oriol Romeu joined the latter group.
What about Ousmane Dembele?
He left in the afternoon with the rest of the French players on the team: Lenglet, Kessié and Koundé. This group did have dinner at the hotel. However, the Frenchman, tempted by PSG, has not yet confirmed his departure to Xavi.
At Barça they are not at all optimistic. Today the expedition will fly to Las Vegas, the last stop on the American tour, and they do not know if the Frenchman will join the group or if he will fly to Barcelona. Everything will depend on whether their representatives finally pay the clause that until 00:00 on July 31 is 50 million euros. 25 would be taken by the club, and the other 25, by the striker. As of tomorrow, the value will once again be 100 million, a figure that continues to be acceptable for the whole of Paris.
Sources close to the player insist that the footballer prioritizes PSG negotiating the agreement with Barcelona beyond the clause. Dembélé does not want to leave unilaterally. However, Barcelona have already informed PSG that the player is not transferable and that if they want to sign him they must pay his fixed market value.
The footballer has had a renewal proposal on the table since last June. The bond that Barcelona proposes to him is a contract for four more seasons until 2027 and economic conditions higher than those he perceives now. However, for his agent, Moussa Sisoko, it is not enough. According to the club, he responded to the entity with a counterproposal in which he demanded to enter between six and seven million euros more between fixed and variable concepts. Barça will not move from his position. He thinks that offering more money would be irresponsible considering the difficult financial situation of the club.
Dembélé has been pampered in other aspects. The winger spoke yesterday with Mateu Alemany, director of football. Also with the coach Xavi Hernández. He knows that they appreciate him and that they would like him to stay. But pessimism is growing. The squad also finds it difficult for the player to continue in Barcelona.
Dembélé knows that for Xavi he is an essential footballer, but he did not have the same feeling on the part of the football team led by Mateu Alemany, especially since the Frenchman’s latest renewal was not an easy dish to digest. It was in January 2022 when Alemany got fed up with Dembélé and said the following: “We have been in conversations with his agents since June. We have talked and we have sent them several offers for the player to continue with us, offers that have been systematically rejected, ”he explained, visibly annoyed. “As of January 20, it seems obvious that the player does not want to continue. He’s not engaged. Given this scenario, he and his agents have been informed that they must leave immediately. We expect a transfer before January 31.”
Dembélé was in the stands for two games. Without him, Barcelona lost against Athletic Club in the round of 16 of the Copa del Rey. He was not in Mendizorrotza either in the League against Alavés. Xavi forced to recover him and against all odds the Frenchman ended up renewing. To achieve this, Mateu Alemany even traveled to Morocco and spoke with Sissoko. Both shared their points of view and ended up reaching an agreement. Barça had to make an effort, and the agent was more flexible in his demands. Dembélé’s entourage was satisfied with the result of the meeting.
But everything has changed. Club sources point out that if PSG finally signs Dembélé, they will not stay still. They will claim that there cannot be total impunity for the French team to sign all the footballers without taking into account the economic fair play regulations.