Barcelona are still confident that they will reach a deal with Ousmane Dembele to extend his contract, which is currently set to expire in the summer of 2022, and they have yet to make a decision on the strategy they will follow in the event talks don't come to fruition.
The Blaugrana have not dismissed the possibility of freezing out Dembele, as they did back in summer with Ilaix Moriba, who was unwilling to renew his contact and wanted to land a move elsewhere.
Despite participating in the last two training sessions with rest of his teammates, Dembele has not been included in the squad for Wednesday's game against Rayo Vallecano at Vallecas.
"The most important thing is that we want him to stay," said Ronald Koeman during Tuesday's pre-match press conference.
"He is key and has quality. The goal is for him to renew.
"Another thing is if he doesn't want to renew. We have to talk as a club about the best way to deal with it.
"We haven't yet talked about what our strategy will be if he doesn't renew."
Talks between the two parties haven't been successful so far, but Barcelona are not willing to rush. The Catalans want to extend Dembele's contract until 2025, but if no agreement is reached by January, the Frenchman might face sporting consequences and freezing him out could be an option.
Laporta's stance
Dembele's agents have been hesitant to put pen to paper on a new deal, with talks having begun even before he picked up a long-term injury while on international duty with France at Euro 2020.
Negotiations have been brought to a halt, but Barcelona president Joan Laporta is also participating in the talks between the two parties.