Barcelona news: Ousmane Dembele has insisted that he never wanted to leave the Catalan team in the summer transfer window.
Dembélé was linked with a move away from Barcelona in the summer transfer market.
The Frenchman’s previous contract with Barcelona had expired on June 30. He became a free agent for a brief period. But then he signed a contract with Barcelona, ending the uncertainty about his future.
Barcelona announced that Dembele has signed a new contract on July 14. The 25-year-old put pen to paper on a deal that runs until 2024.
News Barcelona: “I told my representative only Barça”: Ousmane Dembele
Dembélé has now insisted that he never wanted to leave Barcelona. He also dismissed suggestions that he had previously signed a deal with an unnamed club.
“There was nothing like that (pre-agreement with another club), I only spoke with Barça. And I told my representative only Barça and in the end we are all happy”, Dembélé said in an interview with Mundo Deportivo.
Dembélé has been impressive for Barcelona since Xavi became their manager. The France international has also started every one of Barça’s La Liga games so far this season. He has played in four games, scored one goal and assisted in two others.
Dembélé now credits Xavi for the change in his form at the Catalan side. “Since Xavi arrived, I have lived my best moments at Barça. To me, or to the other extremes, his way of seeing football is very good for us”, said Dembélé.
“The relationship with Xavi is very good, he has always told me the truth, he supports me a lot and I am happy”.
Meanwhile, Barcelona sit second in the table with 10 points from four games. They are only behind Real Madrid, who have had a perfect start to the season. The defending La Liga champions have won all four games they have played so far and have collected 12 points.
Barcelona, meanwhile, have won three of their matches and shared points in the other. The game in which they dropped points was their first La Liga match, as Rayo Vallecano kept them scoreless. Barcelona have posted comfortable victories in all three games since then.
Barcelona kick off their 22/23 Champions League campaign next by taking on Viktoria Plzen at the Camp Nou in the group stage.
