Ousmane Dembele has been left unhappy by Chelsea’s contract proposal and could reconsider the current offer on the table from Barcelona, according to reports.
The Frenchman is out of contract at the end of the month, when he becomes a free agent, and has been sounded out by some of Europe’s biggest sides, including Chelsea and PSG.
Ideally, Barca would like to keep him at Camp Nou and Dembele’s preference is to extend his contract, but in a meeting last week Xavi said that the club would not be upping its offer.
That salary proposal – which is less than what he earns – has been on the table since December, but the France international and his representatives feel they can get a better deal elsewhere.
But, Chelsea have now made their contract offer to Dembele and, according to Sport, it is considerably less than he was expecting.
The 25-year-old attacker and his team are said to be ‘disappointed’ with the financial terms and there is a feeling that the club’s pursuit of Raheem Sterling has resulted in a reduced offer for the Frenchman.
Chelsea are simultaneously pursuing a deal for the Man City star, who could be available for around £50m, and Thomas Tuchel would like to have both players in his ranks next campaign.
But Sterling is on huge wages and that has meant Chelsea have not been able to make as lucrative an offer for Dembele as he had been hoping for – though it is still more than Barca are ready to pay him.
Chelsea could also add some extra incentive with a huge signing bonus – something Barca are unwilling to pay – but even that is lower than what Dembele’s team had been demanding.
The winger has not given a definitive answer one way or the other to Chelsea and is now considering the possibility of remaining at Camp Nou.
Dembele is hoping Barcelona will increase their offer so it is slightly closer to Chelsea’s, but even if they do not he will now need to weigh up whether the salary on offer at Stamford Bridge is significant to convince him to leave Catalunya.
Both Barca and Chelsea have asked for Dembele to make up his mind quickly as they would like to pursue Leeds player Raphinha as an alternative.
