Barcelona winger demands higher salary, considers himself a future Ballon d’Or winner | OneFootball

Ousmane Dembele’s contract situation has become a major headache for Barcelona. The Frenchman is in the final year of his existing deal, meaning he will be able to leave Camp Nou for free next summer.

Clubs from across Europe are lining to capitalise on this opportunity, with there being strong interest in particular from the Premier League. The likes of Liverpool, Manchester United have been constantly linked while newly cash-rich Newcastle United have also entered the picture.

Footmercato’s Santi Aouna provides the latest update on the Dembele saga, claiming that the 24-year-old has a massive contract offer worth €20 million per year from an unnamed Premier League club, who are also ready to hand him a €30 million signing-on bonus.

However, Dembele is believed to favour staying at Barcelona, even though he is yet to come to an agreement with the club over a new deal. The journalist reports that the Catalans have a meeting scheduled with the Frenchman’s agent, Moussa Sissoko next week to try and thrash out a deal.

It has been previously reported that the 2018 FIFA World Cup winner was unhappy with the wages being offered by the Blaugrana. Building on that, Aouna reports that Dembele sees himself as a future Ballon d’Or winner and wants to be paid accordingly.

While there is no doubt that Dembele is a truly talented forward, a future Ballon d’Or winner seems a bit of a stretch. For starters, he has missed nearly as many games as he has played for Barca since arriving four years ago and needs to sort out his fitness issues and disciplinary problems if he is to truly realise his potential.

The French international still has his best years in front of him, but he needs to prove himself on a consistent basis before making outrageous contract demands.