FC Barcelona: Xavi still does not forgive Ousmane Dembélé

This is a poster far from being unprecedented in recent years in the Champions League. For the 6th time under the QSI era, PSG will have to face FC Barcelona in C1. Matches that always offer pretty crazy scenarios. This Wednesday, this will probably be the case during the first leg of the quarter-finals. This year, this meeting has an even more special flavor with the return of Luis Enrique, coach of the comeback, or even that of a certain Ousmane Dembélé. The French international left Catalonia this summer to join the capital club. A departure not particularly planned by the management of the Blaugranas and even less by Xavi who was betting a lot on him.

The Barça coach has absolutely not digested the departure of Ousmane Dembélé according to the information of AS. Quite the contrary. It must be said that nothing suggested such a departure. A few months earlier, Barça had managed to negotiate an extension (and it was not easy) as Dembélé reached the end of his contract. We therefore thought we would see him settle in over time and yet… PSG arrived in this file and took advantage of a special clause to recover the 27-year-old winger. The player's agent had managed to negotiate a clause which stipulated that only 50 million were needed to recover him over the June-July period (compared to 100 million in August). And Paris took advantage of it.

Xavi experienced his departure as a betrayal

For his part, Xavi absolutely did not expect the departure of Ousmane Dembélé and also experienced it as a betrayal. He did not hesitate to defend him publicly when he was singled out and above all based his entire preparation on his presence. As proof, he had started all the summer preparation matches and had even made the trip to the United States tour. He also found the net against Real Madrid during the Clasico, a goal which illustrated his good return to form. “He is the best player in the world in his field” defended Xavi. But AS reveals that the day before this match, the atmosphere had become different between the two men while the staff and players expected him to stay.

Ousmane Dembélé had in fact prepared his departure for PSG and the bad news was about to fall. A shock for Xavi when the Frenchman had explained to him several days earlier that he was going to stay and that his dream was to win the C1 with FC Barcelona. The Spanish daily also explains that Dembélé had accepted the Parisian offer almost out of obligation due to the special clause in his contract. A hard blow for Barça just before the start of the season, especially since the player's clan and the player himself, as agreed in the clause, were to pocket 25 million (out of the 50 million from the transfer). Enough to put the club in a delicate situation. And clearly, Xavi still can't digest this surprise departure… The reunion promises to be special.