Ferran Torres jokes he’ll kidnap Ousmane Dembele to keep him at Barcelona

Ferran Torres has joked that he will kidnap Barcelona contract rebel Ousmane Dembele to keep him on board at Camp Nou.

In a conversation with the media, as quoted by Goal, Ferran Torres has had his say on the tricky contract situation surrounding Ousmane Dembele. The Spanish forward has joked in a “tongue in cheek” manner that he will kidnap the French international to keep him at Camp Nou,

The Barcelona attacker said, “I would kidnap him in Barcelona! It’s a good club, one of the best in the world. But there are things that are none of our business. It’s his decision. Whatever he decides, I wish him all the best.”

Ousmane Dembele has become a polarizing figure at Barcelona, as he has shown plenty of promise since arriving from Borussia Dortmund in August 2017. But that has not translated into the desired end product, with a spate of injuries hampering the French forward’s progress over the past half a decade.

The 24-year-old reached his lowest ebb as a Barcelona player in the January transfer window, as sporting director Mateu Alemany announced that the two parties had reached a point of no return in contract renewal talks. The announcement brought Dembele a lot of heat from the Barcelona fans.

Ferran: "I would kidnap Dembele to make him stay at Barcelona." *laughs* pic.twitter.com/QDIc6x9tKN

— Barça Universal (@BarcaUniversal) April 6, 2022

But Xavi Hernandez has constantly backed the 2018 FIFA World Cup winner, even successfully predicting that the fans will start cheering him again. The Barcelona boss has also repeatedly talked about Dembele’s contract situation, including during his pre-match press conference for the UEFA Europa League quarter-final first leg against Eintracht Frankfurt.

But Barcelona and Dembele might still be far apart on their valuations, despite recent meetings to re-initiate contract talks. Keeping hold of the 24-year-old will likely keep the Blaugrana in good stead, especially considering his performance levels in the last two months.

Dembele has an excellent record of providing ten assists in just 13 La Liga outings, emerging as one of the chief creative outlets for Barcelona. He also made a big impact off the bench as Barcelona came from a goal down to hold Eintracht Frankfurt to a 1-1 draw on Thursday.

Retaining the young forward will save Barcelona millions in transfer fees, and Ferran Torres’s comments might resonate with many Barcelona fans. While people will not go down to the extent of kidnapping Dembele, they, like Torres, will be keen on seeing him stay at Camp Nou.