The winter transfer market opens tomorrow, and Manchester United has already been connected with a number of players. The name of FC Barcelona Superstar is once again in the spotlight.
The star’s contract with Barcelona expires in June 2022, and sources suggest that negotiations about extending it with the Catalan giants have halted due to the high expectations. As a result, he may sign a pre-contract with any foreign team for a free move in January.
Today, reputable Spanish outlets such as Sport and ABC (press photographs supplied at the end) have published intriguing reports on the transfer storey.
Sport claims that Barcelona is sick of the demands made by the player and his agency and is on the verge of saying ‘enough is enough.’ Man United are said to have been in contact with his representation for months and have made a formal offer to sign him.
According to ABC, Dembele’s representative has requested Barcelona to agree to a new contract that would pay his client a hefty salary of 40 million euros per season as well as a signing bonus of 20 million euros. Such sums are completely unsustainable for a club in the grip of a severe economic crisis.
It is stated that the Les Bleus playmaker earns £320,000 per week (20 million euros per season) on his current contract, and it is perplexing that he is demanding a massive wage increase after suffering eleven injuries since joining to the Nou Camp.
Even this season, the former Dortmund attacker has spent the most of his time on the treatment table, and he has only started four games in all competitions.
Man United invested substantially to strengthen their attacking department last summer, and there is simply no need to recruit a severely injury prone forward like Ousmane Dembele.