FC Barcelona have already agreed to sell Ousmane Dembele to Paris Saint-Germain according to the … [+]
FC Barcelona have already agreed to sell Ousmane Dembele to Paris Saint-Germain, according to Mundo Deportivo.
The Catalan outlet reports that sources at the club have admitted to this them, and it now remains to be seen when the two European giants will make the move official through an announcement.
RMC Sport and AS in France and Spain were the first to report on PSG’s interest in Dembele on Friday.
On Saturday, Dembele scored the opening goal in Barca’s 3-0 win over bitter rivals Real Madrid at Cowboys Stadium.
The following evening, however, reports began to spread that the Blaugrana were ‘very pessimistic’ about keeping their winger with PSG ready to pay his €50 million ($55 million) release clause which doubled at midnight at the turn of August 1.
Dembele would have had to abandon Barca’s U.S. preseason tour to deposit the money in person at La Liga HQ as the Spanish championship specifies in its rules.
The 26-year-old traveled from the Dallas area to Las Vegas with Xavi Hernandez’s 32-man squad on Monday making the deadline impossible to beat.
This led many to believe that PSG would now have to cough up €100 million ($110 million) for the World Cup winner.
As revealed by the likes of Fabrizio Romano and L’Equipe, however, PSG will only have to pay the original €50 million because PSG sent a letter to Barca which activated a new ‘private’ clause.
Mundo Deportivo have added their own details and report that the fee is as such because of an agreement between Barca, Dembele and his agent Moussa Sissoko to accept a €50 million sale.
Dembele told Barca he wished to leave before July 31, so Barca were obliged to accept his exit as stipulated in fresh terms agreed when he extended his contract in 2022 until June 30, 2024.
While Relevo transfer expert Matteo Moretto reported that Barca will receive €27 million ($29.7 million) in the transfer, Mundo Deportivo insist that the money will be shared evenly between the club, Dembele and Sissoko.
Romano explained that a deal would be sealed by the end of the week. According to Mundo Deportivo, however, Dembele is already as good as gone because Barca have agreed to sell him to PSG.
At the Allegiant Stadium this evening, it is expected that the injury-prone wideman will not feature against last season’s Champions League semi-finalists Milan.
This is because Barca don’t want him to pick up a knock, and therefore scupper the deal that will leave them with €25 million for a player that could have walked for free next summer.