How much will Barcelona save on new Dembele contract?
FT Desk
- 11 Jul 2022 10:00 CDT
- 3 min read
France winger Ousmane Dembele - currently a free agent after his deal at Barcelona expired on 30 June - now looks set to stay at Camp Nou on reduced terms. How much will he earn with a new deal?
Barca paid Borussia Dortmund a total fee of €145 million to bring Dembele to Camp Nou in 2017, the club having scrambled to replace the Paris Saint-Germain-bound Neymar, and they paid him accordingly.
Dembele's bumper Barca deal
The Frenchman, just three months past his 20th birthday at the time, was given a salary of nearly €250,000 a week, for circa €13 million a year.
But he has only performed in fits and spurts in his five seasons since, with reports of his late-night video gaming making for some unwelcome column inches in his early years in Catalonia.
G⚽️AL OF THE DAY
🔙 Four years ago
🔥 @Dembouz's first Barça goal pic.twitter.com/t7hcvIA9eR— FC Barcelona (@FCBarcelona) March 14, 2022
Dembele enjoyed a second wind under Xavi last season, though, laying on 13 assists in 21 league games. With his contract expiring at the end of the campaign, the expectation was that he would be in high demand.
However, potential suitors have thus far either not materialised, or gone with other options in the wide areas, as is the case with Chelsea and their pursuit of Manchester City's England winger Raheem Sterling.
40% down on original offer
It means Dembele is set to settle for a new deal which Mundo Deportivo journalist Edu Polo reports is 40 per cent lower than the contract he was offered - and rejected - in December.
The final deal will work out at €6 million net per season, saving Barca €7m annually on Dembele's original contract.
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Dembele will earn the same amount teenage wing wizard Ansu Fati on a deal which will run until 2024, by which time he will be 27.
Barcelona have allowed Dani Alves' contract to expire this summer, with Adama Traore returning to Wolves and Philippe Coutinho's loan to Aston Villa made permanent for €20m.
Meanwhile, Franck Kessie and Andreas Christensen have been signed on free transfers from AC Milan and Chelsea respectively.
