Barcelona Left 'Speechless' By Ousmane Dembele Contract Demands

Barcelona boss Xavi has reportedly been left 'speechless' by Ousmane Dembele's contract demands, and they could also cost the forward a huge move.

Xavi is at the beginning of trying to rebuild Barcelona, after several years of mismanagement on and off the pitch has left them well off the pace of the other big clubs.

The club have added Ferran Torres to the playing staff since the start of January, with Philippe Coutinho going on loan to Aston Villa so they can afford his wages.

One player whose future at the Nou Camp is up in the air is Dembele, whose contract expires at the end of the season, though his current club do want to keep him.

Dembele has been linked with moves away from Barca and he could get to, with the player's wage demands on a new deal leaving Xavi 'speechless.'

According to German journalist Florian Plettenberg, the France winger has asked for £36 million-a-year for his new deal, which works out around £700,000-a-week.

Update #Dembélé: Been told that Xavi was nearly speechless when he got the information what the player demands for a contract extension: €43m before tax per year + €7m add ons. Just one of the reasons why a transfer to #FCBayern is almost impossible. @SkySportNews 🔴

— Florian Plettenberg (@Plettigoal) January 7, 2022

Dembele has been linked with a number of clubs, including Bayern Munich, and Plettenberg says that those demands could cost him a move to the Bundesliga giants.

Reports claim that Robert Lewandowski is the club's highest paid player on £325,000-a-week, which is nowhere close to what the former Borussia Dortmund forward is asking for.

As well as the financial position of potential buyers, the other thing that goes against the 24-year-old's favour is his poor injury record.

Since moving to La Liga, Dembele has played just 86 league games in five years, with just three starts and two substitute appearances this season.

As well as a move to Bayern, Premier League clubs have been heavily linked with the former Rennes man, and Manchester United are amongst them.

According to one report, the winger could be involved in a ridiculous swap deal to Old Trafford, that would see the unhappy Anthony Martial move the other way.

The former Monaco forward has been the subject of a loan offer from Sevilla but United rejected the bid as they were only paying some of the player's wages.