In spite of the expiration of his contract, Ousmane Dembele's Barcelona career may not be done. Since the beginning of 2022, Barcelona and Moussa Dembele's agents have been engaged in negotiations to avert a free transfer.
As a result, Dembele's five-year stint in La Liga has come to an end, and he is now officially a free agent. However, the Frenchman does not appear on the list of players who have left the club after their contracts expired this week.
The 25-year-old winger has no choice but to accept the Blaugrana's final take-it-or-leave-it offer as his sole means of returning. Thus, a verbal deal has been reached with the Spanish giants on a new contract until 2024 with a 40 percent pay cut, as per Catalan newspaper Sport.
Would Barcelona be able to register Dembele?
At the end of June, Ousmane Dembele's contract with the Camp Nou outfit ended and he is no longer considered a member of the team as of July 1. In view of their economic difficulty, the side were unwilling to enhance their last offer.
In order to cut costs, the Blaugrana have imposed a stringent €9 million annual barrier for all of their players. It has left Dembele in a difficult circumstance, needing to cut his wages to the €6-7 million that rising star Ansu Fati now earns. However, it has not been ruled out that he will play for the Catalans again next season.
By all accounts, the two sides seem to have reached an agreement on a two-year contract until June 2024. The only problem is that Barca are now unable to sign new players because of the continuous financial crisis unless they sell someone and make space in the salary turnover.
So, Dembele will be considered a new signing since the club didn't manage to come to an arrangement with the former Borussia Dortmund player before his contract expired. Xavi and the Barcelona hierarchy will have a tough time registering the player as a result of this.
