Report: Barcelona holding talks over contract renewal of €135 million investment | OneFootball

According to El Partidazo de COPE, via Mundo Deportivo, Barcelona held talks with the representatives of injured attacker Ousmane Dembele over a new contract this past Monday.

Dembele has been with Barcelona since 2017, having arrived as the replacement for Neymar in a deal well in excess of the €100 million mark. His time at Camp Nou, though, has been largely blighted by injury problems one after the other.

While he did seem to be building up some steam towards the end of the last season, an injury in the Euro 2020 with France again came as a setback, leaving him sidelined at least until next month.

While his situation remains as it is, Barcelona have been fretting over his contract situation at the club. Indeed, Dembele has entered the final year of his deal with the Catalan giants, meaning he will be able to negotiate with foreign clubs over a pre-contract agreement from January and leave for nothing at the end of the season.

But there is some good news for the club hierarchy as there seems to be a desire from both parties to sign a contract extension. Indeed, reports last week had claimed that a meeting to discuss a new deal had been scheduled.

And, as per the aforementioned report, the said meeting took place on Monday, prior to Barca’s 1-1 draw against Granada. It is claimed that president Joan Laporta was present in the talks, along with vice-president Rafael Yuste and technical director, Mateu Alemany.

Laporta has made it clear that he wants to prolong Dembele’s stay at the club ever since he became the president earlier this year. This has played a role in convincing the 2018 FIFA World Cup winner to consider the contract after he had been linked with an exit on and off during the previous regime.

Discussions with Dembele’s agent, Moussa Sissoko, are said to have gone well, leaving the club with a positive impression about the chances of securing a contract extension. The Catalans hope to extend his deal with the club till the summer of 2024, and the response from his camp has been positive.