In one fell swoop, Barcelona spent nearly half of what the club made from the sale of Neymar.
Barcelona made it official on Friday, announcing it had signed Ousmane Dembele from Borussia Dortmund for a transfer fee of nearly $125 million plus add-on clauses, making Dembele the second-most expensive transfer behind Neymar. Dembele, who signed a five-year contract, has a buy-out fee of nearly $475 million.
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Dembele, a 20-year-old winger with the speed and skill to take on any outside back along the sidelines, had a breakout year in his only season at Dortmund playing alongside American Christian Pulisic. After scoring 12 goals in his first pro season at Rennes in 2015-2016, Dembele scored six goals and had 12 assists for Dortmund in the Bundesliga as well as adding another two goals and four assists in cup competitions.
With Barcelona’s first target to replace Neymar, Philippe Coutinho, made unavailable by Liverpool, the club moved forward with its desire to sign Dembele. Despite Dembele leaving Dortmund without permission to travel home to France earlier this week, Barcelona and Dortmund were able to come to an agreement for the French international.
👋 Benvingut @Dembouz!
— FC Barcelona (@FCBarcelona) August 25, 2017
👋 ¡Bienvenido Dembélé!
👋 Welcome Dembélé!
👋 Bienvenue Dembélé!
🔵🔴 #BeBarça pic.twitter.com/gTl0YXCEd6
Here’s some more transfer news from around the Premier League:
West Bromwich sign Burke from Leipzig
One of the top Scottish youngsters is moving to the Premier League.
After a season spent with RB Leipzig in the Bundesliga, Oliver Burke has completed a reported $19 million transfer move to join Tony Pulis and West Bromwich. The 20-year-old winger is eligible to make his debut this Sunday against Stoke City.
Burke made 25 appearances in the Bundesliga last season but started just five times. It appears that feeling he was second-choice at his position again this season, he’s made the move to find a new club and a new situation to break into the starting lineup.