FC Barcelona star Ousmane Dembele has received an ‘enormous offer’ to join Cristiano Ronaldo at … [+]
FC Barcelona star Ousmane Dembele has received an ‘enormous offer’ of €200 million ($222.5 million) to join Cristiano Ronaldo at Al-Nassr according to transfer market experts Foot Mercato.
Ronaldo switched to the Saudi Pro League giants in January when his Manchester United contract was terminated by mutual consent.
Believed to pay him $200 million a season, the move allowed the legendary forward to finish top of Forbes’ list of The World’s Highest-Paid Athletes in May.
Though Al-Hilal failed to deliver his generational rival and new Inter Miami signing Lionel Messi, big stars such as Ballon d’Or holder Karim Benzema and N’Golo Kante have made the switch from elite European football to the Kingdom where the Public Investment Fund has taken control of four of the biggest clubs to boost its domestic championship.
Yet while all the players mentioned thus far are well past their 30th birthday, or not far off 40 in the case of Ronaldo while Benzema and Messi are on their way, the Saudi Pro League still hasn’t pulled off the coup of landing a top, young player at the height of his powers.
Ruben Neves, 26 and now at Al-Hilal, partly fits the bill. But the Portuguese midfielder didn’t exactly feature for the biggest club on the Old Continent, with all due respect to Wolverhampton Wanderers.
Al-Nassr luring 30-year-old Marcelo Brozovic in recent weeks, in turn snatching the Russia 2018 and 2022/2023 Champions League finalist away from FC Barcelona, was a bigger achievement.
When all is said and done, however, convincing one of the victors on the other side of the ball in said World Cup final would be an indicator of great progress being made in the fight to have the local league recognized as more than a lucrative retirement camp.
Unfortunately for Al-Nassr, they haven’t been able to turn France international Dembele’s head despite tabling a five-year, €40 million ($44.5 million) a season offer according to Foot Mercato which would have totaled €200 million and made ‘The Mosquito’ a much richer man by his 31st birthday.
The Saudis are obviously willing to trigger his release clause in Catalonia, which has halved to a paltry €50 million ($55.6 million) this summer as part of a contract extension agreed last year which expires in 2024.
Even though Dembele and his agent can pocket half of that fee, turning down the eye-watering package from the Saudis is another sign of how dedicated the Frenchman is to the cause under his head coach Xavi Hernandez.
Keen to agree fresh terms at Camp Nou, or the Montjuic Stadium while Barca’s usual home is being renovated, the winger has gone from being a booed outcast in early 2022 for not putting pen to paper to a fan favorite and regular starter.
Barca are currently occupied trying to register their new players and the renewed contracts of existing stars while navigating Financial Fair Play limits, but Dembele is expected to commit to the Blaugrana for another three years when his own deal is oven-ready.
“Barca want to renew me until 2027 and I’m happy here,” he revealed to La Vanguardia last month.