Barcelona are set to hold a meeting with the agent of Ousmane Dembele next week to discuss his future at the club, according to reports in Spain.
Sportsmail reported at the end of last month the 24-year-old has no intention of staying at Barcelona beyond the end of his current contract, which comes to an end in June next year.
Mundo Deportivo reported last month that talks over an extension had slowed down amid fears at the club that the forward may have a pre-contract agreement with another club.
But the same outlet now claims the Catalan giants – amid their financial woes which requires them to reduce their wage bill having exceeded LaLiga’s salary cap by 40 per cent – remain keen to discuss fresh terms with the France winger.
The report adds discussions are planned with his agent to determine with his future ultimately lies, but Barcelona want him to renew and believe he can still fulfil the potential that saw the club splash out £124million on him in 2017.
Dembele is currently recovering from a knee injury he suffered while playing for France against Hungary at Euro 2020 which is expected to keep him out of action for until the end of October.
The former Borussia Dortmund star had surgery on the issue in Finland at the end of last month, having also missed most of December with Barcelona following a similar issue.
Dembele arrived at Barcelona from Borussia Dortmund four years ago in the summer market for a basic fee of €105m (£124m) plus €40m (£34m) in variables.
The 24-year-old was initially allowed to leave last summer with Ronald Koeman not convinced by him, but Dembele scored 11 goals last term to bounce back and deliver arguably his best season at Camp Nou.
His reported £212,000-per-week deal would see Barcelona crucially get rid of a high earner and bring in a transfer fee to help ease their financial mire, but his injury appears to have scuppered any chance of that and the threat of him leaving for free next summer now looms large.
The club are believed to be in £1billion of debt due to the coronavirus pandemic and news of Messi having agreed to a 50 per cent pay cut on a new five-year deal was leaked on Wednesday.
The Catalan side however are looking to clear Dembele’s compatriot Antoine Griezmann’s salary off their wage bill following talks with Atletico Madrid over a swap deal with midfielder Saul Niguez.
Barcelona have also not been able to register their new signings – Sergio Aguero, Eric Garcia and Memphis Depay – due to their incredibly bloated wage bill.
