FC Barcelona’s forward Ousmane Dembele appears set to join Paris Saint-Germain (PSG), with reports from French journalist Santi Aouna confirming the agreement. Aouna, known for his expertise in the transfer market, revealed that Dembele became a priority signing for the Qatari-owned Ligue 1 giants on July 6.
RMC Sport later reported that the 26-year-old was on the verge of making the switch to PSG. News spread on Sunday, indicating that Barcelona felt pessimistic about retaining their €105 million ($115 million) signing, originally acquired with the money received from PSG for Neymar in 2017. Follow your favourite La Liga team with attractive betting odds from Nextbet.
In a surprising turn of events, L’Equipe reported that the Dembele camp decided to leave Barca after learning that the club had offered him and Gavi as part of a potential swap deal for Kylian Mbappe. The French outlet further suggested that Dembele’s transfer was “imminent,” pending the finalization of personal terms with the winger.
According to Aouna, the deal is now sealed, with Dembele opting to join PSG until 2028. Helena Condis at COPE revealed that the World Cup winner informed some of his soon-to-be former Barcelona teammates about his decision to make the move.
The transfer will reportedly be completed by activating Dembele’s remarkably low €50 million ($55 million) release clause on Monday. He must leave Barcelona’s preseason tour of the US immediately to deposit the money with La Liga himself.
Interestingly, the terms agreed upon in Dembele’s 2022 contract renewal with Barca allowed the player and his agent Moussa Sissoko to pocket half of the release clause amount.
Gerard Romero shared that Sissoko informed the Spanish league about PSG’s plan to activate the release clause on Monday. If the action is not taken by midnight, the amount will double to €100 million ($110 million) on August 1.
The loss of Dembele in such a manner, for a mere €25 million ($27.5 million), is a significant blow to Barcelona. President Joan Laporta is reportedly prepared to declare “war” on PSG and may request a Financial Fair Play investigation if the deal goes through.
This development is reminiscent of PSG’s move to sign Neymar from Barcelona seven years ago. However, this time, they managed to secure Dembele for almost ten times less than the amount they paid for the Brazilian superstar. Get the latest updates from the La Liga only on Nextbet Sports.
