Barcelona have made it a priority to renew the contract of key forward Ousmane Dembele before June 30, according to a report from SPORT.
Dembele penned a new contract with Barça in the summer of last year, ten days after becoming a free agent. The Frenchman penned only a two-year deal which also contained a €50 million release clause that clubs can trigger to sign him this summer.
Dembele has made it clear that he wishes to remain at Barcelona and that he is happy at the club and his relationship with manager Xavi Hernandez, who also sees the 2018 FIFA World Cup winner as a vital part of his team moving forward.
However, the release clause continues to bother the La Liga champions and they wish to take care of the matter by reaching an agreement with Dembele and his camp over a new deal before June 30.
The first round of talks have already been held between the two parties, with the general predisposition being that both want to extend the partnership. To that end, Barcelona are understood to have tabled a long-term contract offer until 2027 as well.
An agreement might not have been reached as of yet, but the Catalan giants are motivated to try and close the renewal of the 26-year-old before the end of the month. They are even prepared to make an economic effort in order to seal the deal as soon as possible.
Barça do not want any disruptions to their transfer plans heading into the summer. Given that they are planning to offload both Ferran Torres and Ansu Fati, they do not wish to see the prospect of another attacker in Dembele leave as well.
And while the player has not expressed any desire to depart, top clubs from Europe could see his €50 million release clause as an opportunity too good to ignore. Thus, they wish to eliminate that prospect by securing his future with a long-term contract and intend to do so before June 30.
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