Ousmane Dembele scored the winner in Barcelona’s match against Real Valladolid last night in injury time to seal all three points for Barcelona. This has seen the Blaugrana close the gap to one point between themselves and league leaders Atletico Madrid, who lost to Sevilla during the weekend.
Barcelona now turn their attention to next weekend, where they take on Real Madrid in El Clasico. If they manage to beat Real, then they will be killing two birds with one stone, knocking Los Merengues back in the race while keeping the pressure on Atletico.
Dembele has been in line for a contract extension with Barcelona since his current deal is set to expire in the summer of 2022. The player was heavily rumoured to be on the radar of Manchester United on the deadline day of the 2020 summer transfer window. However, the Red Devils could not reach an agreement with Barcelona regarding a move.Â
This season, Dembele has relatively managed to keep himself fit and is now involving himself in the crucial moments of the season. Lionel Messi is the priority for president Joan Laporta, with the Argentinian being the first to start contract negotiations once the new project has been drafted.
However, as soon as things become stable with La Pulga, Dembele will be the sole focus of Barcelona in terms of contract extensions and this will prevent other interested clubs from pursuing the player this summer or even in the foreseeable future.