Paris Saint-Germain (PSG) are set to launch a bid for Ousmane Dembele.
“Dembele has asked Barcelona for official permission to proceed with negotiations with PSG,” Fabrizio Romano, who is well versed in European soccer transfers, wrote on Thursday (Jan. 31).
“However, there is still a feeling that the €50 million buyout clause cannot be triggered in nine hours. However, we are trying to move forward in a different way.” The “H-hour” has begun in Spain, which is nine hours behind South Korea.
Barcelona signed Dembele in 2017 from Dortmund, where he was a standout. They paid a whopping €140 million for Dembele, who burst onto the German scene. That’s a lot of money, but it was a big deal for a player with so much potential.
Dembele’s arrival at Camp Nou was met with high expectations, but he never quite lived up to them. He has been plagued by injuries, both major and minor, every season and has never played a full season. To make matters worse, Barcelona’s relationship with Dembele reached a breaking point when they were unwilling to renew his contract.
However, Dembele is making a comeback. A strong second half of the 2021-22 season earned him a new two-year contract. In 2022-23, he continued to make an impact with every appearance. Dembele recorded “double-digit offensive points (14-12) for the second consecutive season” in Spanish La Liga.
The summer transfer market is more intense than usual. Dembele has received offers from PSG in his native France. Speculation that he could replace Lionel Messi, who left for Inter Miami, and Kylian Mbappe, who refused to extend his contract, has been swirling. 꽁머니
According to multiple Spanish outlets, Dembele has a €50 million buyout clause that can be activated by July 31, local time in Spain. However, Romano believes it will be difficult for PSG and Dembele to finalize a complex deal with only nine hours to go. If he does decide to join PSG, he will face competition for a starting spot from South Korea international Lee Kang-In.
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