Barcelona’s director of football Mateu Alemany has confirmed that Ousmane Dembele has been dropped from the club’s squad and that the Frenchman doesn’t intend to stay at the Camp Nou. The forward has less than six months left on his current contract but has refused an extension from the club.

Having signed for Barcelona for a then club-record fee after a sensational season at Borussia Dortmund, a lot was expected from Ousmane Dembele. But the forward has struggled with injuries over the last four and a half years which has seen his contract slowly whittle down during that time. So much so, that with less than six months left on his current deal, reports have indicated that the 24-year-old has rejected an extension from Barcelona.

That saw Xavi issue an ultimatum to the forward, to either sign a new contract or leave this month and that has now been confirmed by Mateu Alemany. The Barcelona sporting director has confirmed that Dembele’s decision is “to not continue at Barca” and the club have thus dropped him ahead of a clash against Athletic. He further added that the La Liga giants only want players who are committed to them.

“There have been negotiations with Ousmane and his agent since July more or less. During that time, Barca have made several different offers, looking for a way for him to stay with us. These offers have been rejected by his agents. It’s clear the player does not want to stay at Barca and is not committed to the club,” Alemany said, reported ESPN.

“Therefore, in this scenario, we have told him and his agents that they should leave immediately because we want players that are committed to this project. Not being in the squad is a consequence of all of that. We don’t want players that don’t want to be here. Obviously, the coach has had the final say on this, but he has the club’s full support.”