This is a file on which we informed you before anyone else. Last week, we revealed to you exclusively the upcoming signing of Ousmane Dembélé at PSG. And while waiting for the operation to be made official by the capital club, we have also published the underside of this rather complex deal, which began with an approach from Barça for Mbappé. The Barcelonans thus proposed to include, among others, Dembélé in the deal… PSG refused, but the presence of the tricolor winger made the Ile-de-France leaders wince, they who have already tried to attract him several times by the pass.
The Parisians then managed to convince the main interested party, even if Xavi did everything to retain the Frenchman, on whom he was counting a lot for this coming season. A transfer rather well tied up by the management of Paris Saint-Germain, who will thus pay 50 million euros to enlist the 26-year-old player. But above all, in this story, FC Barcelona was in a position of enormous weakness.
Barça had their backs against the wall
While PSG officially expressed interest in the player before that €50m release clause expired on Monday night, allowing them to land the player for the same sum after that date, the Catalans had no other choice but to say yes to the Parisians. And for good reason, FC Barcelona had until today to authorize Dembélé to agree with the Parisians. If Joan Laporta and his men had said no, Ousmane Dembélé could simply have terminated his contract thanks to a clause negotiated last summer when it was extended. And therefore leave for Paris without any financial compensation for the Catalans.
Agree to sell Dembélé to PSG for 50 million euros, or see him leave for free. Inevitably, the reigning Spanish champion made the first choice, despite himself. With this meager consolation prize, the Barcelonans will still be able to probe the market in search of a replacement, while the Spanish media are already mentioning the names of players like Bernardo Silva, Yannick Carrasco and João Félix. For its part, PSG strikes a blow and adds a quality player to its offensive sector who needed qualitative reinforcements, while waiting for Randal Kolo Muani, the priority for the tip of the attack according to our information…
