Barcelona have inserted special anti-injury clause in Ousmane Dembele's new contract - Reports

According to MARCA, Barcelona have included a special anti-injury clause in Ousmane Dembele's contract with the club.

Dembele has had injury issues since his arrival from Borussia Dortmund. However, due to a loophole in his earlier contract, the player has received variable bonuses of as much as €2 million per season despite not playing 50% of the club's matches.

Over the years, many Barca players have received variable bonuses despite staying injured and not playing a certain number of matches. The club is keen to avoid any such situation moving forward. Hence, they have included a new stipulation in Dembele's contract.

The French forward will have to play a certain percentage of games in a season to be subject to receiving such bonuses. To be fair to the player, he has not had injury issues recently and has been in good form, bagging two goals and four assists in seven appearances across competitions so far this season.

Apart from Dembele, defender Samuel Umititi has had a similar sort of clause included in his contract. The player is currently out on loan at Serie A side Lecce.

Barcelona coach Xavi Hernandez previews clash against Elche

Xavi Hernandez

Barcelona are set to face Elche in La Liga next on Saturday, with arch-rivals Real Madrid and Atletico Madrid engaging in the Madrid derby the next day. Xavi Hernandez believes the fixtures comes at the right time for his team as he stated ahead of the game (via SportsMole):

"It comes at the right time for us, we have not stopped, we have travelled a lot. For the staff, it's a timely break, because I think almost 90% of the players will go with their national teams. We have to win tomorrow, and then let's see what happens. We have to be attentive, especially since it's the Madrid derby. But what we have to do is win our game."

Speaking further about Barcelona's clash against Elche, he pointed out that his team would have to put up a strong performance:

"We are expecting the same opponent we faced last season. Physically strong competitor. In terms of teamwork, they have a number of strengths. We only won thanks to a penalty from Memphis Depay."