Barcelona Drops Dembele’s Asking Price To Just £37 Million

Oyinlola Awonuga
Writer

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By Oyinlola Awonuga (The New Diplomat’s Entertainment Fashion and Sports Desk)

Barcelona has intensified moves to offload French forward Ousmane Dembele, and would be willing to part with the 2018 World Cup winner for just £37 – a third of the £130million they splashed out to sign him from Dortmund.

Since Dembele’s transfer to Barcelona in 2017 from Dortmund he has failed to replicate the form that made the Catalans splash out heavily for his service.

This season he has played just nine times this season – just five of those coming as starts.

He has 74 appearances and 19 goals in his Barcelona career, but given the delicate financial climate football finds itself as a result of the coronavirus pandemic, the club need to make cuts somewhere and are keen to clear some room in their wage budget given his £200,000 per week wages

The LaLiga giants would be making a huge loss on the mega fee they spend on Dembele, but his performances on the pitch – in addition to his injury prone nature – mean the club can no longer afford to keep him in the squad as a bit-part player.

The 23-year-old has suffered a niggling hamstring problem that has that kept him out for most of the current campaign after picking it up in November.

But even before his blow he was struggling for game time and form.

And according to media outlet Sport, Barcelona are quoting around £37m, which could alert PSG chiefs after reports linking him to the Ligue 1 champions.

The report adds PSG president Leonardo is said to be interested in snapping up Dembele as a marquee signing for the club this summer and is preparing an offer.

Given his wage demands, the French outfit would be one of few teams with the financial capability of paying his wages with clubs set for a struggle in the market as the coronavirus continues to take its toll.

Barcelona are hoping their huge discount on Dembele will therefore attract some more suitors, which could come from Serie A or China.

Dembele is earning a praiseworthy salary from his performance. He is enjoying the total net worth of $6 million, including his assets. He receives the annual salaryof €9m from FC Barcelona.

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