Football

Dembele: I am not leaving Barcelona

Published

9 years ago

April 16, 2018

By Boluwatife Ezekiel Olaleye

Ousmane Dembele has insisted that he wants to remain at Barcelona for a long time despite enduring some difficulties during his first season at the club.

The hugely talented winger joined Barcelona last summer for £97million but he saw his progress hampered by a hamstring injury and he has found it difficult to command a regular place in the starting lineup since returning to full fitness.

Philippe Coutinho’s arrival from Liverpool in January has further restricted Dembele’s playing time, with the latter having made just seven league starts for Barcelona.

Ousmane Dembele has often been named as a substitute for Barcelona this season

However, Dembele has no intention of leaving the Catalan club.

‘I’m not going to leave after just one season,’ he told Telefoot. ‘I signed a five-year contract with Barcelona.

‘I’ll be here for a long time.’

‘It’s Barca. It’s like that. I’m glad that [Philippe] Coutinho has come in,’

Dembele, who suffered a hamstring injury earlier in the season, has made seven league starts

Despite his limited playing time, Dembele has still managed to provide seven assists for Barcelona this season across all competitions, while he scored his first goal for the club against Chelsea in the Champions League.

Although Barcelona were knocked out of Europe’s elite club competition by Roma, Dembele’s first season at the Nou Camp could still be a trophy laden one – Erneston Valverde’s side are eleven points clear at the top of La Liga and face Sevilla next week in the final of the Copa del Rey.