Telling a player to leave mid-season because he refuses to sign a new contract

[Hansi Fick]

What does everyone think of this? It seems most people from what I have read agree with benching a player for the season if he doesn’t wish to renew.

Dembele wants insane wages that Barca shouldn’t offer him. But they’re also fighting tooth and nail to finish top 4 in La Liga. Dembele is still good enough when he plays to help them achieve that. I feel like Barca can’t afford to not play him considering how badly they want to finish with a CL spot.

What do you guys think? Is it wrong to bench Dembele or Barca are doing the right thing here?

https://amp.marca.com/en/football/barcelona/2022/01/19/61e80d0d46163fb7b78b45f3.html

First of all, the opening post is full of concoctions. That Dembélé wants "insane" wages is nothing but an unproven claim made by journalists close to your club. A club that has priors when it comes to smearing its own players in the media in order to justify board behaviour. Then, telling a player he should leave is one thing, telling him he'll be benched if he doesn't another. The player's union has already reprimanded Barca for engaging in illegal extortion.
Because it's not like Barca tell him he can leave as he's not in the coach's plans and would only find himself on the bench due to that. They tell him he "must" leave because he didn't sign a contract, and the place on the bench or stands is a punishment for his refusal to sign.

Apart from that, of course you can tell a player you want him to leave. You just obviously can't force him. And once the window closes, and he's still there, not playing him on principle despite him being an asset would be cutting off your nose to spite your face.

 

[Iker Quesadillas]

Both are unprofessional (not renewing to get a bumper sign on fee, and benching them to make a point) but you play by the sword, you die with one

There is nothing unprofessional about not renewing a contract so that you get a sign-on fee elsewhere.

 

[kouroux]

True, there could / should definitely an element of loyalty because of the injuries and actually how little he has played for them, but you could flip that around and say I got injured playing for you, I signed a 5 year contract and am feel to leave after that as I want a new challenge no matter what happens over those 5 years.

But there's a lot we don't know about this situation in my opinion too. The board mess and how it's played out over the last few years with all the leaks etc, players taking pay cuts because the club is in such financial mess (and yes, a lot are on crazy contracts), nor do we know what Barca are actually offering him. Their offer might be degrading in his eyes, despite his injuries etc.

Some of his injuries happened when he wasn't playing for them tbh. However you're absolutely right overall, I just wanted to see things from their POV and just say that I get it.
I still blame Dembele for fecking up that easy chance laid on a plate by Messi in their QF first leg at the Camp Nou for their 4th goal vs Liverpool

 

[Iker Quesadillas]

I don't really have much sympathy for Barcelona in this situation. It's not obvious to me that they should renew Dembele's contract and IMO there's at least 50% chance that letting him to is the better option. I think they're being a bit dramatic.

 

[pawanraj]

The player has the right to ask for what he thinks he should get. The club has the right to utilize the player how they see fit while they have the player under contract. Both parties can rightfully stop the association beyond the contract.

And yet, more often than not, players are pilloried for negotiating or refusing contracts, but the clubs get a pass when they casually choose not to renew a player.

As long as the player conducts themselves professionally, I will always side with the player in their endeavor to do what's best for their career.

 

[sun_tzu]

As there is only a (very) limited window in which clubs can recoup any funds (dembele is of course free to start pre contract negotiations for a free with anybody) I can see why they will say to him they wont play him as its in Barcas interest to try and avoid paying his wages for the next few months and even get some money... the reality is though that if they suffer injuries / suspensions later in the season and are chasing a CL spot they wont end up throwing some 15 year old kid onto the pitch they will (provided he is training professionally) call on Dembele as it will be in their best interests.

Dembeles best interests are probably served by signing as a free agent with a signing bonus and high wages ... again if an offer comes along from barca that outweighs that he will change his mind and pursue what he believes is in his best interest

Like with any business deal you are looking for that zone where you can both accept the deal but in this instance that zone is probably non existent given barcas finances and the likley offers he can recieve elsewhere

TLDR - people and businesses do whats best for themselves and anything leaked to the press is to try and help them achieve that

 

[Oranges038]

I don't see a problem with. You're just telling the player if he won't sign a new then he's clearly doesn't want to be there, so the feeling is mutual.

Just offer them a new deal at least 2 years out, if they don't sign it or drag their heels, make it clear if they won't then they aren't part of your plans and can go find themselves a new club.

Or just don't offer players stupid contracts they aren't worth in the first place, then you won't have to deal with looking for more stupid money and then winding down high paid deals because they know they won't get the same money any where else.

 

[Sky1981]

There is nothing unprofessional about not renewing a contract so that you get a sign-on fee elsewhere.

Then there's nothing unprofessional about not letting a player who's about to leave play. It's not against the law

 

[noodlehair]

It's hard to judge. He might be turning up in training and acting like a bellend. Or might not be keeping himself fit enough.

I think if a player is off in a few months their attitude has to be absolutely spot on to bother picking them, and they have to be someone you'd clearly be worse off without.

Otherwise you're pissing off whoever you sit on the bench in order to pick them and risking creating a load of unrest for no reason and for minimal benefit

 

[duffer]

Then there's nothing unprofessional about not letting a player who's about to leave play. It's not against the law

Not picking him to play is fine.

Barca commenting publically on the contact negations and telling the world he needs to find a new club is what's unprofessional.

Dembele is, (by most accounts) a complete bellend of a person but a club like Barca acting so small-time is a surprise.

 

[The Boy]

Then there's nothing unprofessional about not letting a player who's about to leave play. It's not against the law

You're right there's nothing wrong with that at all, but there us something very wrong and unprofessional with telling a player publicly he has to leave while he is still under contract. If I was Dembele my first reaction would feck you, you cnuts, trying to drive me out of the club for a small fee when I could see out my legal contract and get more money moving on a free.

Barca have no one to blame but themselves, firstly for forking out so much money on the transfer, then making the same mistake again and again, then publicly putting players under massive pressure to cut their wages because the board had fecked up financially, I think it's disgusting how they've acted.

 

[TheLord]

Yep. Chelsea have had almost our entire defence's contract running out this season (Azpi, Rudiger, Silva and Christensen) but they've all been trusted and treated respectfully.

I think Abramovich has been very supportive of all players who've played for Chelsea. I can't remember a single incident where a player hasn't been allowed to leave if he genuinely wanted to or a case of deliberately trying to rot a player in the reserves if he refused to sign an extension. I can't imagine a Rüdiger-like situation happening at United without a huge uproar - one of the best CBs in the world in the final few months of his contract without an extension.

And in all honesty, you have been lucky to avoid crybabies like Pogba, Dembele, Özil et al.

I don't know what to make of the Chelsea model of sending dozens of players in all kinds of loan deals, but the recent "maximum six players" FIFA ruling should solve that problem too.

 

[RoyH1]

Not picking him to play is fine.

Barca commenting publically on the contact negations and telling the world he needs to find a new club is what's unprofessional.

Dembele is, (by most accounts) a complete bellend of a person but a club like Barca acting so small-time is a surprise.

They're desperate. Absolutely desperate. Crippling debt, in 6th place 17 points adrift of Real Madrid and out of the Champions League and the Copa del Rey. The Europa League and 4th place is all they have to play for. I suppose they wanted at least a bit of debt relief from selling Dembelé but now they don't even get that.

 

[duffer]

I think Abramovich has been very supportive of all players who've played for Chelsea. I can't remember a single incident where a player hasn't been allowed to leave if he genuinely wanted to or a case of deliberately trying to rot a player in the reserves if he refused to sign an extension. I can't imagine a Rudiger like situ

And in all honesty, you have been lucky to avoid crybabies like Pogba, Dembele, Özil et al.

I don't know what to make of the Chelsea model of sending dozens of players in all kinds of loan deals, but the recent "maximum six players" FIFA ruling should solve that problem too.

Malouda got treated really badly in his last season. Never really understood why why but he was training with the kids.

As for the loan thing, if the new rules were implemented today, Chelsea already meet the requirements (u21 or club trained players are exempted from the restriction). I've no idea if any clubs will actually be impacted by them but Chelsea won't be.

 

[Redlyn]

No we couldn’t. There were multiple reports we asked for 30, then lowered it to 20 and even West Ham weren’t willing to match that.

We should have been able to go lower and find a taker, unless he is the one that didnt want to move.
What's the point losing out on 10-15m AND still paying his wages for him to hardly play.

 

[NoLogo]

Not picking him to play is fine.

Barca commenting publically on the contact negations and telling the world he needs to find a new club is what's unprofessional.

Dembele is, (by most accounts) a complete bellend of a person but a club like Barca acting so small-time is a surprise.

They are desperate to save money wherever they can, but I have to admit the whole saga seems a bit classless right now. He doesn't want to renew on the terms you offered? Alright, just tell your buddies in MARCA or wherever to run a story that Dembele wants to leave in January and Barca is willing to sell and be done with it. But this tendency Barca has to smear their own players as greedy bastards really is wrong and weird, and doesn't really help their case, does it? I mean, who will be in a rush to buy a player who you have just described as unprofessional and greedy, that's just awful advertisement.

 

[Annihilate Now!]

Fans: (When a good player wants to leave) He can't go anywhere, he's signed a contract and so he has to stay unless we get exactly what we want for him

Also Fans: (when a less good player won't leave) Why doesn't he just go, he should accept whatever money they're offering and just leave now, even if it's not exactly what they want.

 

[duffer]

They are desperate to save money wherever they can, but I have to admit the whole saga seems a bit classless right now. He doesn't want to renew on the terms you offered? Alright, just tell your buddies in MARCA or wherever to run a story that Dembele wants to leave in January and Barca is willing to sell and be done with it. But this tendency Barca has to smear their own players as greedy bastards really is wrong and weird, and doesn't really help their case, does it? I mean, who will be in a rush to buy a player who you have just described as unprofessional and greedy, that's just awful advertisement.

It is a terrible way to sell an asset.

"2004 Ford Focus for sale, it rarely starts, guzzles petrol and has a ton of scrapes. A real piece of shit that I want rid of".

 

[youmeletsfly]

They are desperate to save money wherever they can, but I have to admit the whole saga seems a bit classless right now. He doesn't want to renew on the terms you offered? Alright, just tell your buddies in MARCA or wherever to run a story that Dembele wants to leave in January and Barca is willing to sell and be done with it. But this tendency Barca has to smear their own players as greedy bastards really is wrong and weird, and doesn't really help their case, does it? I mean, who will be in a rush to buy a player who you have just described as unprofessional and greedy, that's just awful advertisement.

When has Barcelona been an elegant and professional club? It's standard business practice for them.

 

[giorno]

Some of his injuries happened when he wasn't playing for them tbh. However you're absolutely right overall, I just wanted to see things from their POV and just say that I get it.
I still blame Dembele for fecking up that easy chance laid on a plate by Messi in their QF first leg at the Camp Nou for their 4th goal vs Liverpool

Ousmane Dembele, joining Karius on the mount rushmore of Real Madrid legends who never played for us

 

[choccy77]

Dumb, desperate and classless. So long as the player is professional, treat him like everyone else

Like Jesse who posts about West Ham before a United match over & over you mean.

It's a joke the club refused to sell him last summer, paid his wages this season, to have him leave for nothing potentially soon.

This club is run by idiots.

Hopefully Newcastles desperation might yet save us.

 

[kouroux]

Ousmane Dembele, joining Karius on the mount rushmore of Real Madrid legends who never played for us

Surely some Bayern players are on there too

 

[PoTMS]

Crazy to think £500m of talent that was instrumental in winning the last World Cup is going to be allowed to walk away for free this summer.

 

[wolvored]

A club can decide not to give a player a new deal and a player can decide not to renew. Both should be professional about it and each dont owe anything to the other party.

Agree. If you look at it as a normal job, if your not up to scratch you would be let go by the company, similarly if you were offered a better deal elsewhere or wasn't enjoying the job you would leave. At the end of the day your only an employee as a footballer.

 

[Patchbeard]

Some of his injuries happened when he wasn't playing for them tbh. However you're absolutely right overall, I just wanted to see things from their POV and just say that I get it.
I still blame Dembele for fecking up that easy chance laid on a plate by Messi in their QF first leg at the Camp Nou for their 4th goal vs Liverpool

I will never forgive him for this

 

[Kentonio]

Regardless of anything about Dembele and his attitude, Barca are basically making a demand they have absolutely zero ability to enforce and possibly may be breaking the law in the process. They look like a bunch of arrogant bullies while also looking weak and delusional, which isn't the PR approach I'd personally have taken, but hey..

 

[Kentonio]

Really looks like a lot of players are doing it these days. I'm not sure if they are after a big signing on bonus if they come on a free, or if it's due to transfer sums being so high that they can't really leave any other way? I mean, Kane pretty much will only get out of his contract if he runs it down, no team is going to pay the €200M+ it would take to buy him out of that contract.

It must drastically limit the number of clubs potentially able to sign you, when you have 100m+ transfer fee PLUS giant wages. If they ruin out their contracts, then not only can they potentially ask for higher wages, but they have a lot more suitors to choose from also.

I think these insane transfer fees are likely to be a very short term phenomenon, as they don't seem to make any financial sense whatsoever.

 

[Piratesoup]

then not only can they potentially ask for higher wages, but they have a lot more suitors to choose from also.

They can also leverage a much higher signing bonus "because you don't have to pay a transfer fee for me".

 

[The Siege]

Barca turn every player-finance related issue into a circus right now because it's how they're showing their fans that 'look we want to dig this club out of a hole, but this one damn guy is refusing to help us out'. It's a terrible way to do business and I hope players see the knives they're likely to be stabbed in the back with if they sign for the club in the future. They're the Mino Raiola of football clubs.

 

[led_scholes]

The club have the right to bench the player, the player has the right to not sign a new contract if he thinks he can do better elsewhere as others have said that's fine everyone can stay professional, it's a job at the end of the day.

What is disgusting here is Barcelona saying he must leave in this window,, they are acting appallingly.

Why it is disgusting? They make it clear to him, that if he is still at the club after 1st of February, he will be benched. If the player doesn't want to rush his transfer now, that is his right. As the club took a risk with him when they purchased him, he is also has to risk: find a club now that maybe won't meet his contract demands but is going to play him or wait till the summer. Honestly, I wish we would have done it last summer with Pogba and now with Martial. As the player has every right to refuse a new contract, a team has also every right to bench him.

But not all cases are similar. Mbappe and Lewandowski had shown to their clubs that even if they wanted to leave, when playing they give 100%. That's why PSG and Dortmund never hesitated playing them. Lewa (and I think Mbappe may do it too) signed a pseudo-extension, so that the club would receive some money too. Can you say the same about Dembele, Pogba and Martial?

Edit: as @giorno said, Dortmund didn't receive any money for Lewa.

 

[NoLogo]

It must drastically limit the number of clubs potentially able to sign you, when you have 100m+ transfer fee PLUS giant wages. If they ruin out their contracts, then not only can they potentially ask for higher wages, but they have a lot more suitors to choose from also.

I think these insane transfer fees are likely to be a very short term phenomenon, as they don't seem to make any financial sense whatsoever.

Not quite sure if they are short term. There is so much money in football right still, and I reckon that determines a lot the amount of transfer fees that is being asked for. Maybe if covid has long term damaged the financial wellbeing of too many clubs this might change, but otherwise I can't see transfer fees and wages going down anytime soon.

It's like with the housing market, I keep thinking "dude no one can pay these prices, surely that needs to go down sometime again" but no, as long as there is money available on the cheap, prices will go up it seems.

 

[giorno]

But not all cases are similar. Mbappe and Lewandowski had shown to their clubs that even if they wanted to leave, when playing they give 100%. That's why PSG and Dortmund never hesitated playing them. Lewa (and I think Mbappe may do it too) signed a pseudo-extension, so that the club would receive some money too. Can you say the same about Dembele, Pogba and Martial?

Lewa didn't sign an extension, he left on a free. They just bumped his wages for that season to show their appreciation and keep happy and motivated

I don't think Mbappé will sign a short term extension. PSG have already shown their unwillingness to sell him. If he resigns with them it will be long term

 

[Sky1981]

If you dont give me playtime I'll be leaving the club.

If you dont raise my salary I'd refuse to sign

How's that any different with if you're staying we wont play you.

The only courtesy about it is sometimes it's behind closed door

 

[led_scholes]

Lewa didn't sign an extension, he left on a free. They just bumped his wages for that season to show their appreciation and keep happy and motivated

I don't think Mbappé will sign a short term extension. PSG have already shown their unwillingness to sell him. If he resigns with them it will be long term

Yes, you are right about Lewa. I thought Bayern had paid something small like around 5 millions to Dortmund. But nope.

 

[antk]

The obsession on here with the potential fourth goal in a Barca 3-0 win, as if the reason they got out wasn't the simple fact they absolutely imploded in the second leg, boggles the mind.

I think in most cases clubs should play their best players, provided they're committed and match the club's project. Barca may very well prefer playing youngsters for them to acquire experience, even if they're on the verge of the abyss currently and should probably focus on results right now. However, publicly shaming their own players like that is classless and, quite frankly, feels desperate.

 

[Acrobat7]

Is the starter of this thread blaming Demebele for honoring the contract both parties agreed upon?

 

[SuperiorXI]

I think that proper management of the club would avoid this completely. The negotiation team should be clear from the start that if you reach 1 year remaining, we will try to sell you to protect the club, so if they don't want to sign then feck them. It's also a big issue for us because of the wages we pay... no one wants to pick our players up as it will ruin their own wage structure so that means a huge cut price to offset the wage loss.

 

[duffer]

If you dont give me playtime I'll be leaving the club.

If you dont raise my salary I'd refuse to sign

How's that any different with if you're staying we wont play you.

The only courtesy about it is sometimes it's behind closed door

It's completely different.

Players sign contracts to play football. If they aren't playing they often want to move which is normal and happens at every club.

If a player thinks a contact offered is not enough then they won't sign it. Again, this is perfectly normal and happens all the time in football and in the real world.

A club freezing a player out, announcing to the world that they are asking for too much money and have until the end of the month to find another club is not a normal occurance.

 

[Iker Quesadillas]

Then there's nothing unprofessional about not letting a player who's about to leave play.

That does not follow at all.

A sign-on fee is just money. It is no different than not renewing so you can get better wages everywhere. That is the entire point of having a labor market for players. It is, by definition, 'professional.'

 

[Zen86]

It's understandable why Barcelona are frustrated, but player loyalty is non-existent in this day and age and at the end of the day, it's all business. It would be a different story if another player was doing the same thing at another club, and Barcelona were primed to take that player with no fee.