Only the official announcement is missing. The rubric. A formalism. Black on white on paper will close Ousmane Dembélé's stage at Barça. The Frenchman confirmed on Thursday his departure from the club to PSG after catching a flight to Paris. It will be the end of six highly highlighted seasons, ideal for YouTube, and zero significance. Of incalculable potential and scant reality. Culés fans, divided between eternal believers of the mosquito and those who were tired of waiting so long, will have to make a great effort to remember a handful of great moments from the winger. Perhaps they have the fingers of one hand left over to count them.
A record price (140 million), constant injuries, a personality that has yet to be deciphered, an unscrupulous representative and, as icing on the cake, a disloyalty to coach Xavi Hernández, his supporter in his worst moments, will be the memories that the Frenchman will leave in the imaginary Barcelona player , who a couple of months ago dreamed of winning the Champions League for the blaugrana. Barça will receive 50 million from PSG for the transfer, but it remains to be seen what percentage the player and his agent, Moussa Sissoko, keep and what part the Barcelona entity receives. In principle, as stipulated in the footballer's contract, the distribution will be 50%, 25 million for each party.
The amount that Barça finally enters for Dembélé will be decisive for the final composition of the squad at the end of this transfer market. The march of the most unbalanced player in attack changes the strategy of reinforcements. If the total money received from the sales of players (Dembélé, Kessié, Lenglet...) and the fair play generated allow it, the club will try to bring a replacement of the French's guarantees.
The dream, the request for maximums, is Bernardo Silva. However, the man from Manchester City, who wishes to come to Barça, is right now a utopia due to its high cost. If they do not have enough muscle to tackle the signing of the Portuguese, or another of the same level, the club will focus on propping up other less expensive positions. João Cancelo, through a transfer, is one of the names for the right side, while in the midfield he would bet on the Argentine Giovani Lo Celso, in principle another low cost option.
Xavi already warned that he needed more signings to compete at the highest level. Without Dembélé, the emergencies multiply, although the coach, a club man who knows perfectly the stressed economic balance of the entity, will adapt to what he has. Xavi has given the squad three days off after the tour of the United States, but the one from Terrassa, who is spending these days on the Costa Brava, is in permanent contact with the football director, Mateu Alemany, and the sports director, deco.
The sports leadership met yesterday with the president Joan Laporta at the Ciutat Esportiva Joan Gamper to outline the new path to follow in the transfer market. On the table were also the possible departures of Clément Lenglet, who in recent hours has sounded for Cristiano Ronaldo's Al-Nassr, and that of Franck Kessié, who has an offer from Saudi Arabia and another from a Premier League club , his favorite destination in case of leaving the team.
Each euro that enters will determine the following operations. Barça not only has player sales, but also contemplates the activation of a lever that will report 65 million. The board of directors had agreed to resell 16% of Barça Studios to a German fund, a possibility that the club does not rule out executing before August 31 despite the fact that Esport 3 reported the breakdown of negotiations.
This money was intended to ensure the registrations of the renewed Araújo, Marcos Alonso, Sergi Roberto, Iñaki Peña and the signed Iñigo Martínez, Gündogan and Oriol Romeu, in addition to allowing the renewals of Balde and Lamine Yamal. A lot of work to do at Can Barça in the coming weeks, even more so after Dembélé's fright.
