‘Green light’ for SHOCK €50m Barcelona transfer revealed by Fabrizio Romano
Robin Bairner
- Updated: 31 Jul 2023 06:51 BST
- 4 min read
Ousmane Dembele has agreed to a transfer to PSG from Barcelona, according to football transfer news expert Fabrizio Romano.
PSG have been chasing Dembele for a number of months and were linked with a move to the France international when he was out of contract last summer.
Barcelona were insistent that the 26 only want to remain at Camp Nou, but PSG have been given a “green light” to sign the former Rennes and Dortmund player, according to the journalist.
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Taking to Twitter, Romano said: “Ousmane Dembele says yes to Paris Saint-Germain! Initial green light to the proposal has arrived.
“PSG verbally agreed five-year deal with Dembele’s agent.
“PSG have sent a formal letter to inform Barcelona, now trying to find the best way to close the deal – it depends on timing.”
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PSG race to sign Dembele
Indeed, it appears that the Ligue 1 champions face something of a race against the clock to sign Dembele, who has a release clause of €50 million up until 1 August. Thereafter, that figure doubles. This could potentially mean that if no deal is done on Monday, they have to pay double, despite Dembele having just a single year left on his contract.
Dembele has been something of a divisive figure at Barca, who signed him as a replacement for Neymar in 2017. He has failed to justify his €135m price tag, having been plagued by injury.
When fit, Dembele has shown himself to be a potent offensive weapon and scored five goals and created seven more in 25 appearances as Barcelona won LaLiga last season.
While his departure will give Barcelona a headache going into the final month of the transfer window, it will ease their financial problems to some degree – although he was a player that head coach Xavi did not want to lose.
Indeed, Dembele’s presence in the starting XI as the Catalans beat Real Madrid 2-0 in El Clasico over the weekend shows how much his coach thinks of him. He even opened the scoring in that game.
PSG have their own issues, meanwhile, with Kylian Mbappe still refusing to budge on his exit position – one of the reasons the Parc des Princes side have been chasing a transfer for Dembele so intently.
