Borussia Dortmund agree to sell Ousmane Dembele to Barcelona

The agreement, that had looked as close to being done as it could be on Thursday night without being official, was confirmed by a Borussia Dortmund statement on Friday.

The France winger, 20, must complete a medical at Barcelona and agree personal terms before the transfer is completed.

“Barcelona will pay BVB a fixed transfer compensation in the amount of 105 million euros ($125 million),” a Dortmund statement said.  

“Moreover and in addition, the parties agreed contingent payments up to the maximum amount equivalent to approximately 40 percent of the amount of the fixed transfer compensation.”

The complicated deal would make the ultimate transfer fee the second biggest in football history. Despite Dortmund’s caution on the deal being completed, Barcelona tweeted as if the transfer was done.

Dembele, who cost Dortmund 15 million euros when he moved to Germany from Stade Rennes in France last year, is Barcelona’s replacement for Neymar. The Brazilian forward completed a world record 222-million-euro move to Paris Saint-Germain at the beginning of August.

Dortmund had suspended Dembele after he boycotted training on August 10 in protest at the Bundesliga club rejecting Barcelona’s initial bid. The standoff cost Dembele his place in the France squad for the upcoming World Cup qualifiers against the Netherlands and Luxembourg.

Dortmund chief executive Hans-Joachim Watzke held a press conference before the Barca agreement was announced when he addressed how they will replace Dembele.

“We will probably do something in the transfer market,” he said.

Few names have been bandied about in the media but a move for ex-Schalke player Julian Draxler, pushed down the pecking order by Neymar’s arrival at PSG, is one intriguing possibility.

Whether Barcelona will now continue their pursuit of Liverpool’s Brazil winger Coutinho given they have agreed to buy Dembele remains to be seen.

Article source: http://www.dw.com/en/borussia-dortmund-agree-to-sell-ousmane-dembele-to-barcelona/a-40236214?maca=en-rss-en-sports-1027-xml-atom