FC Barcelona have come out of Ousmane Dembele’s transfer to Paris Saint-Germain richer than expected … [+]
FC Barcelona have come out of Ousmane Dembele’s sale to Paris Saint-Germain richer than expected according to SPORT.
Barca confirmed the €50.4 million ($55.2 million) transfer to the Ligue 1 giants on Saturday morning ahead of their Parc des Princes season opener against Lorient at 21:00 local time.
Whether Dembele can debut for his new club later this evening is of little interest to Barca, who have waved goodbye to a player who showed glimpses of genius but failed to deliver on his promise after being signed from Borussia Dortmund for €105 million ($115 million) plus €40 million ($44 million) in add-ons in 2017.
Head coach Xavi Hernandez, who helped Dembele become one of the best wingers in Europe when injury-free, has been left disappointed by ‘The Mosquito’ switching allegiances.
Yet it shouldn’t have come as a surprise after he was allowed to have such a low release clause when agreeing a two-year contract extension in 2022.
Dembele and his agent Moussa Sissoko expected to pocket half of the transfer fee, but this has been disputed by Barca.
Receiving just €25 million ($27.5 million) for a player who cost them almost six times more is embarrassing for the Catalans, but still better than seeing him walk for free in 2024 when all is said and done.
Dembele’s release clause was also meant to double to €100 million ($110 million) at the turn of August 1, but as PSG informed Barca of their intentions to buy the winger before July 31, it meant that the original fee still stood.
According to SPORT, however, Barca will end up richer from the operation than previously thought.
The Catalan daily newspaper reports that Barca will receive €34.5 million ($37.8 million), and credit must go to director of football Mateu Alemany and president Joan Laporta, plus whoever else was responsible for putting pressure on Dembele’s camp behind the scenes, in achieving a bigger slice of the pie than was due.
Receiving such a sum will help Barca considerably in their quest to register new players and possibly bring in additional fresh faces.
As things stand, there can now be an increased effort to land Neymar after the Brazilian reportedly agreed to accept a reduced salary in Blaugrana, with other targets including Joao Cancelo at right back.