Ousmane Dembele contract: How much of a pay cut will the Frenchman accept?

Paul Macdonald

Updated: 3 Jul 2022 10:52 BST
3 min read

Ousmane Dembele, Barcelona, 2021/22 — © ProShots

Ousmane Dembele looks set to stay at Barcelona - but not because of his agent's negotiating skills - quite the opposite, in fact.

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Dembele's contract expired at the end of June and his entourage appeared confident that he would be able to court a better deal elsewhere.

His five-year contract upon signing from Dortmund for a fee in the region of €130m placed him on a gigantic, unmanageable salary in the region of €15m per season.

Given Barcelona's current financial constraints, including their desire to free up room in their salary budget to comply with La Liga regulations, the renewal tabled to the 25-year-old was thought to be in the region of €7m-€8m.

This represents a 45% decrease on his previous deal, which prompted Dembele's agent to court the likes of PSG and Chelsea to search for a better deal.

But while Kylian Mbappe is friends with the Frenchman, they were not willing to meet his demands. Chelsea, likewise, chose not to take the deal any further despite him being available for free.

Which leaves Dembele in a rather embarrassing predicament. He looks more likely than ever to accept the offer on the table from Barcelona despite the dramatic drop.

Barcelona wage bill

The renewed agreement is a testament to Barcelona's desire to trim as much as possible from the wage bill among their higher earners.

Antoine Griezmann was basically gifted to Atletico Madrid in order to get him off the list, while Clement Lenglet will be allowed to join Tottenham on loan for similar reasons.

And Frenkie De Jong's entire situation is predicated on his salary; it appears that the player wants to stay at Camp Nou, but he will have to accept a drastic drop in salary, like Dembele, if he were to remain.