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| Ousmane Dembele of FC Barcelona during the La Liga Santander match between FC Barcelona and Elche CF at Camp Nou Stadium on December 18, 2021 in Barcelona, Spain. |
News broke late on Wednesday that Ousmane Dembele will not be signing a new contract with Barcelona.
After having dragged on the contract negotiations for months, the 24-year-old’s camp rejected the club’s latest contract proposal, insisting that the only way he would sign an extension would be if his €40 million per year salary demands were met, along with a signing-on bonus of €40 million.
With the Catalans in no position to meet such lofty demands, talks have come to a screeching halt and all things point towards the Frenchman leaving Camp Nou on a free transfer when his current deal runs out in the summer.
Apart from the prospect of losing Dembele for nothing, this could also cause problems for Barcelona with regard to the registration of their new signing, Ferran Torres, reports journalist Sique Rodriguez.
The 21-year-old recently completed a move from Manchester City in a deal worth €55 million, becoming the second signing of the Xavi Hernandez era, following the arrival of Dani Alves. Both the players will be registered with La Liga when the official window opens on January 3rd.
However, Dembele’s decision not to extend his contract may have some repercussions on the registration process. The former Borussia Dortmund star renewing with a lower fixed salary on a two-year period, as proposed by the club, would have reduced some burden on the wage bill for Barça as his salary would have been amortised over the next two years.
But with that not happening, Barcelona will now have to find ways to make enough room on the payroll to accommodate Torres while staying compliant to La Liga’s Financial Fair Play rules.
The Catalans had faced these problems during the summer with the registration of Memphis Depay, which had required the club captains to take pay cuts. While salary reduction might not be needed this time out, the Blaugrana will, however, need to offload some unwanted players.
