Xavi wins the pulse for Dembélé

Ousmane Dembélé (Vernon, France; 25 years old) returns to Barcelona.

Actually, he never left.

The striker, whose relationship with the Barça entity had expired on June 30, signed a new contract this Thursday until 2024. The Frenchman, however, had not been able to bear his anxiety and, after agreeing with Xavi Hernández, from this Tuesday He had already started training with his old-new teammates at the Ciudad Deportiva, when the agreement was not yet closed.

Without Xavi on the bench it would be impossible to understand Dembélé's continuity at the Camp Nou.

The coach never hid his weakness for the winger.

He did it as soon as he landed at Barça.

“He could be the best in the world in his position”, underlined the Catalan coach on the day of his presentation.

He returned to show his bet on Dembélé in the last winter market.

Barça, then, had not reached an agreement with the player's agents for the renewal of the contract and from the sports management they forced the coach to dispense with the Frenchman.

"Dembélé must leave immediately," said Mateu Alemany, Barcelona's director of football.

But Xavi was patient.

He waited for the transfer window to end and knocked on the door of the sports management again.

“We have to be smart and put egos aside.

You have to take advantage of Ousmane ”,

2̵0̵2̵2̵

2024

𝐀𝐇𝐎𝐑𝐀, 𝐒𝐈́!

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– FC Barcelona (@FCBarcelona_es) July 14, 2022

With Xavi in ​​charge, Dembélé played 31 games, with an average of 62 minutes per duel.

Numbers higher than those that the Frenchman signed with Ernesto Valverde (55), but lower than what he signed with Ronald Koeman (64).

However, the winger was never as comfortable at Camp Nou as he was with Xavi.

“It shows that he has been a player until recently.

He treats all the players very well.

He has us all hooked.

There is a lot of communication ”, the Frenchman usually explains to his surroundings.

Dembélé reciprocated the technician's affection.

“I see him happy and he has been a great professional.

I haven't had a single problem with him.

I have heard of everything.

But since I've been here, he's taking care of himself, he trains well and he's positive with the group”, Xavi said.

His lack of discipline is over -in April, even he showed up to train on his day off-,

while he began to perform on the field: two goals and 13 assists.

In fact, he finished the course as the top Barça passer.

But most importantly, the injuries are over (13 since he signed for Barcelona in 2017).

“The staff is top” admits Ousmane in private, and those who have closely experienced the Frenchman's development remember with surprise that “before he did the same preparation as Busi, with two totally different bodies.

That has changed."

with two completely different bodies.

That has changed."

with two completely different bodies.

That has changed."

It happened, however, that when it seemed that Dembélé was finally flourishing at the Camp Nou, the sports management preferred to get rid of the Frenchman.

The argument?

His high salary, close to 11 million euros net per season.

The conversations between Mateu Alemany and the Frenchman's agent, Moussa Sissoko, had become tense and were increasingly sporadic.

So, Xavi interceded again.

The coach interrupted his vacation to be present at the meeting that changed Dembélé's destiny.

On Monday, June 27, at the Ciudad Deportiva, Alemany and Sissoko smoothed things over and moved closer to each other.

Always under the watchful eye of Xavi and the technical secretary, Jordi Cruyff.

A week later, Dembélé's contract was finalized.

The club wanted to bring Dembélé's salary closer to Ansu Fati's and the Frenchman wanted to give up as little money as possible.

As they explain from the player environment, he rejected two offers superior to those of Barcelona.

A bond was then agreed between fixed and variable, which satisfied both parties.

And Xavi breathed.

He won the second and definitive fight for Dembélé.

The Frenchman privately thanks Xavi for his treatment."He has given me confidence," he says.

Now he has to thank him on the field.

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