SPORT: Football
Excluded from the squad, Barcelona confirm the sale of Ousmane Dembélé.

The French­man’s con­tract expires at the end of the sea­son and has recent­ly been in talks to sign an extension.

Barcelona direc­tor Ale­many said: “It’s clear that Dem­bélé does­n’t want to con­tin­ue with Barcelona. He does not want to be part of our project”.

“We told Dem­bélé that he had to leave imme­di­ate­ly. We expect Ous­mane to be sold before Jan­u­ary 31”.

But cash-strapped Bar­ca were unable to meet Dem­bele’s demands, leav­ing the club and the play­er in an intense stalemate.

And now Barcelona direc­tor Mateu Ale­many has announced that the strik­er will NOT sign a new con­tract and could be sold this month.

Ale­many said: “It’s clear that Dem­bele does­n’t want to con­tin­ue with Barcelona. He does­n’t want to be part of our project.

“We told Dem­bele he has to leave imme­di­ate­ly. We expect Ous­mane to be sold before Jan­u­ary 31.”

With less than six months left on his con­tract, the winger is already cleared to nego­ti­ate a free trans­fer out of the club next season.

As a result, Man­ches­ter Unit­ed, Chelsea and New­cas­tle have all been linked with Dembele.

But his man­ag­er — Bar­ca leg­end Xavi — insist­ed on either sign­ing a new con­tract or the play­er will be sold before the win­ter win­dow closes.

He said: “The mes­sage is clear. Ous­mane Dem­bele must sign a new con­tract or we will find a way to sell him in Jan­u­ary. No oth­er way.

“It is not envis­aged that he will stay in the stands. I was very clear with Ousmane.”