Ousmane Dembele has completed his move to Paris Saint-Germain signing a five-year deal until 2028.
The move has been made official after nearly a week of negotiations and the player already being in Paris.
Discover the CV of Paris Saint-Germain's new signing, Ousmane Démbélé! 📋 #WelcomeDembélé https://t.co/qxgsb3rcQF
— Paris Saint-Germain (@PSG_English) August 12, 2023
The reason for the delay was PSG and Barcelona needed to hammer out some minor details with regards to the transfer fee. Specifically, Barcelona wanted to get the most they could given they would have to split some of the fee with Dembele as per the agreement of the contract they signed last season.
Barcelona is reportedly set to get €34.5 million with the rest going to Dembele and his agent.
‼️El Barça se lleva 35.4M€ por la venta de Ousmane Dembélé al PSG@tjcope #fcblive
— Víctor Navarro (@victor_nahe) August 12, 2023
The curious thing is Barcelona confirmed Dembele’s departure and in their statement, confirmed the total transfer fee, which was €50.4 million. They then released a different one where the fee was taken out.
10.32 v 12.47 🤷 pic.twitter.com/VcFJxXJIXl
— Samuel Marsden (@samuelmarsden) August 12, 2023
Despite Dembele trying to leave in the best of terms, there does appear to be some bitterness, judging from Barcelona’s statement.
“FC Barcelona and the player Ousmane Dembele have severed ties by virtue of the unilateral exercise by the player of a right included in his employment contract,” the statement read. “The club, in strict compliance with the agreement, has not negotiated or agreed with third parties the terms of this severance.”
In any respect, this brings an end to Dembele’s tumultuous time at Barcelona. Originially signed for more than €100 million in 2017 from Borussia Dortmund, his six-year stay with the Catalan giants was full of injuries, spending almost as much time off the pitch as on it.
When he was fit, Dembele showed flashes of the type of player he can be as well as frustrating inconsistencies. He very well could have left last season on a free had it not been for the intervention of Xavi Hernandez.
The manager pushed for his stay and Barcelona ended up reaching an agreement on extension that turned out to be short lived.
Dembele now heads back to France where, in theory, he’ll be reunited with Kylian Mbappe. Though how long that reunion will last is anybody’s guess.