OUSMANE DEMBELE Q&A: How has the Frenchman's relationship with Barcelona broken down so publicly, why is he accusing the Spanish giants of blackmail and where does he go from here? 

• Ousmane Dembele has been frozen out by Barcelona over failed contract talks
• The French international is out of contract at the club at the end of the season
• He has been in talks over new deal for months but no agreement has been found 
• As a result, Mateu Alemany told him to leave the club 'as soon as possible'
• But the forward said he will not be blackmailed in an open letter on social media 

Perhaps with Ousmane Dembele on the bench on Thursday night Barcelona might not have been knocked out of the cup. 

They could have at least brought him on for extra time after Ansu Fati broke down. 

Instead he had been left behind with Barcelona declaring he should leave ‘as soon as possible’.  

Sportsmail looks at how it came to this and asks what will happen next?

Flattery will get you nowhere

The current board inherited a situation where the club’s second most expensive signing of all time was showing very little interest in signing a new contract and therefore likely to leave for nothing at the end of this season. 

Operation flattery began. 

Xavi said Dembele could be the best player in his position in the world and president Joan Laporta said he was better than Kylian Mbappe. The plan failed. 

Dembele might have indicated privately to Xavi that he wanted to stay but when it came to negotiating with his agent Moussa Sissoko the two parties were miles apart.

Dembele wanted more than his current £10million net a season and Barcelona wanted him to take the same cut in pay that his team-mates have taken with a long contract that would see him earn more in the final years but make sacrifices now while the club continue to struggle to stay inside La Liga’s salary cap.

Talking tough doesn’t work either

‘That kind of thing doesn’t work with us’ said Sissoko after Mateu Alemany, Barcelona’s Director of Football indicated that the player needed to leave if he was not going to sign a new contract with a pay cut. 

The player was upset as he was sent home instead of joining the rest of the squad for the cup tie with Bilbao but he came out fighting with an open letter saying he will not give in to blackmail.

Can Barça say: you’ll never play for us again’?

They can, but it's better to say it privately. This is nothing new. Clubs at all levels try to force the hands of players all the time by telling them if they don’t renew it will be tough for them to play. 

In 2007 Fabio Capello told Sportsmail in a press conference that David Beckham would not play for Real Madrid again after he had agreed to join LA Galaxy. 

Madrid ended up needing Beckham and he came back to help the team win the league before moving to the US. 

One lower league player in Spain, almost out of contract, was told: sign a a new deal or you don’t play in upcoming cup game against Madrid.

But best not to be too brazen about it?

Exactly. As the Spanish players union said on Thursday: ‘If the situation [being left out] can be understood as a pressure on the player [to sign a new deal, or leave] and in addition there are public statements acknowledging this type of pressure, we would be dealing with an illegal action on the part of the club.’ 

Barca can leave Dembele out but to openly and publicly admit that they are doing it because he won’t sign a new deal – something he is under no obligation to do – then they risk legal action. 

It’s unlikely but they are effectively stopping Dembele from doing the job he is under contract to carry out.

What is Dembele’s next move?

Sit tight. Thursday's open letter was clever in as much as it made it clear he wants to play for the club. 

He also dragged up a previously well buried resentment about the way he has been treated since he arrived: never given the benefit of the doubt with a constant stream of leaks questioning his professionalism.

What is Barcelona’s next move?

They are offering him around for a minimal fee. But there isn’t a club in Europe so desperate as to not wait six months and get him for free. 

And Dembele knows that he’ll get a better signing on fee if his new club sign him this summer instead of now.

Will Barca stick to their guns and not play Dembele for the rest of the season if he stays?

It's unlikely. Ansu Fati is injured again and the club desperately need to make the Champions League places. 

Dembele has already cost them a fortune but missing out on a top four place would also be a huge financial set-back. 

They may have to admit that it was a huge mistake when the previous board spent €140m (£117m)  on Dembele in 2017; admit that his return of 31 goals and 23 assists in 130 games has been poor; but decide to wave him goodbye in the summer after squeezing what they can out of him meantime.

For now though it’s bad cop over good cop?

Yes, there are 10 days left of the window and there will be no thawing in relations all the time there is a chance (albeit slim) that he could leave. 

Barca need to start showing a united front however: on Thursday Director of Football Alemany said it was Xavi’s decision to not use him, after the defeat to Athletic Xavi said it was a club decision.