Dembele Talks Xavi, Raphinha, Lewandowski, Benzema, Mbappe, Real Madrid, Contract Renewal

Speaking in an interview with MARCA, Barcelona winger Ousmane Dembele has confirmed that the club are trying to extend his contract until 2027 and that negotiations are underway with his agent, Moussa Sissoko.

Furthermore, Dembele insisted that he is very happy with the La Liga champions and wishes to continue at the club.

The 26-year-old’s current contract with the Blaugrana stands to expire in 2024 and Barça are hoping to resolve his renewal before the end of the month as he has a €50 million release clause which the club wish to take out of the picture.

Contract talks and happiness at the club

And, it seems like things are going well for the Catalans as Dembele said: “It’s going very well. Barcelona want me to renew until 2027, my agent will talk to them. I’m happy in the team, also at home in Barcelona. We’ll see what happens.”

Further elaborating on why he is so happy at Barcelona, he said: “The players… the team is a family. I also really like the people in Barcelona because they are very calm, I feel very good with the team and with everyone…”

The Frenchman further talked about feeling happier and more positive at Barcelona in the last couple of seasons and credited it to playing regularly and not getting injured.

“Yes, this year, and last year too. Because I’ve been able to play a lot of games. Before it was more difficult because I suffered a lot of injuries. Now I’m happier because I’m playing a lot more. And I’m also happy with the team and with the people of Barcelona,” he said.

Champions League ambitions

Talking about the La Liga title triumph in the season gone by, Dembele stated: “This season has been a good one for Barcelona. We won the league. It’s always good to win this title and even more so after three years without winning it. We have given great joy to Barcelona fans, and that’s why we are also happy.”

Underlining the ambitions for the next season, he said: “Everyone wants to win the Champions League again because we haven’t won it for many years. I hope everything goes well in Europe next season.”

Barcelona crashed out of the UEFA Champions League at the group stages for the second season in a row in 2022/23. Talking about what went wrong for them in Europe, Dembele claimed:

“We were very excited about winning the Champions League, because we have a good team. But we had to face several factors: we had injuries, and some refereeing also had an influence. The Champions League is unforgiving and if you make a mistake, you’re out.

“You always have to be very focused because this competition doesn’t forgive you. That’s how it is. But we are still very excited about the Champions League and we will see what happens next season.”

When asked if he felt like he was one of the main superstars of La Liga now, Dembele replied: “I can’t talk about myself. I always want to score more goals, give more assists, and the team supports me because it is very important. I don’t know if I am one of the stars.”

Competition in the squad

Crediting the atmosphere in the dressing room for the success of the team, the Frenchman added: “It’s the key to winning titles. If there are a lot of problems in the dressing room, the team suffers, and that’s not good. Now Barcelona is a family, with a lot of young players and also veterans. There is a very good atmosphere in the team.”

The 26-year-old also opened up on the competition for places in the team with him battling with Raphinha for a spot on the right flank. Dembele insisted that the competition served to make the team better, saying:

“Competition is always good for the team. Raphinha is a very good player. I’ve known him for a long time because he was at Rennes, which is my team, and I always went to watch his games.

“The competition between everyone is good: Lewandowski, Raphinha, Ansu, Ferran… and also in midfield with Frenkie and Busi and the rest. This makes the team evolve and grow.”

Focusing in particular on Robert Lewandowski and their partnership, Dembele said: “He’s a great player, he scores a lot of goals. We already knew that from his time at Bayern. I have a good relationship with him, both on and off the pitch. He’s a good person and a phenomenal player.”

On the chopping and changing at right-back at Barcelona and how it has affected his game, Dembele said: “In training, we work together and everyone knows how to play, whether it’s Jules, Araújo or Sergi. They all know what they have to do on the pitch.”

Xavi’s impact

Xavi has been effusive in his praise of Dembele, often calling him the best winger in the world. When asked about his manager’s kind words towards him, the Frenchman replied:

“I don’t know, I don’t know… It’s the coach. I’m always there to help the team with goals and assists, but I can’t say that I’m the best one-on-one player because there are other players who are very good in that area, like Vinicius or Leao, who are very good players.”

“I really like having the confidence of the coach. All players can improve and feel at ease if they have the confidence of the coach and the staff,” he added.

Explaining what Xavi, the manager, has brought to the team, the winger said: “A lot of confidence. The last three years were very difficult for everyone. He has given a lot of confidence to the team.

“He has taken a lot of pressure off the players because he is a home-grown man and knows very well everything that has happened at Barcelona, and he has taken a lot of pressure off us.”

Talking about his contract situation last year, Dembele insisted that he never intended to leave Barcelona and that negotiations usually take time.

“Never. Last year there were negotiations, but that’s football, I didn’t see myself leaving Barça at any time. Many things were said. When there are negotiations, there are times when things go better than others, but this is football.”

On the never-ending links to PSG, he said: “I don’t know why there is so much talk about PSG. It must be because he is French, but there was and is nothing with PSG.”

On Real Madrid and Benzema

During the chat with MARCA, Dembele also touched upon Barcelona’s arch-rivals Real Madrid and the comfortable margin by which the Catalans won the La Liga title this past season, saying:

“Real Madrid is always a very difficult rival that fights for all the titles. We wanted to win this league and we didn’t want to let any points slip away that would allow them to get closer. We were determined to win it.”

On the departure of his compatriot Karim Benzema from Madrid, he said: “Without Benzema, Real Madrid loses a lot because he is the Ballon d’Or and a great player. Real Madrid without Benzema is not the same.

“It will be a very important loss. And also for La Liga, because he is a player who scores a lot of goals, gives assists… and he is a phenomenal player.”

On Real Madrid’s links to his France teammate and close friend Kylian Mbappe, Dembele said: “I don’t know (laughs). I don’t know, let’s see what happens in the next few years. I don’t know if he will leave PSG.”