Dembele really seems likely to return to Barcelona in the near future. The talks about re-signing him are still on for now. Barcelona are after Raphinha at the same time too. I wonder if they will give up on one of these transfers. On the other hand there is only Trincao as a right winger in the team now. Taking this into account I think that Barcelona might even go for both of Dembele and Raphinha. It would be better for them to increase the number of alternatives.
Dembele's negotiations with Barcelona have been going on for a long time, in fact it's been a year and they haven't found an agreement between
Dembele and Barcelona. The problems first arose when Dembele asked for a high salary increase, which at that time Barcelona who were
experiencing financial problems certainly could not fulfill Dembele's request. In fact, in January 2022, Barcelona's management had allowed Dembele
to leave. because Barcelona are also tired of not being able to find an agreement with Dembele.
But the arrival of Xavi changed everything, Dembele could show his best form and also Xavi really liked the game from Dembele. This finally made
Barcelona relent by re-negotiating with Dembele's agent, unfortunately, until Dembele's contract runs out an agreement has not been reached.
In the end Marca reported that Barcelona and Dembele were close to an agreement to extend Dembele's contract by two years, although Dembele's
salary will be cut by 40%. Dembele's decision to stay because Xavi repeatedly convinced Dembele to stay and it looks like Xavi's efforts are quite
successful, because in the near future Dembele seems to be extending his contract with Barcelona.
Regarding the purchase of Raphinha, it looks like it's still going on, even though Barcelona are almost able to keep Dembele, because Raphinha is
one of the main targets that Xavi wants. So Barcelona are still fighting for Raphinha, I think it would be very good if Barcelona could have Dembele
and also Raphinha. That will make Barcelona stronger and have many options for the winger position.