Former Borussia Dortmund star Ousmane Dembele is turning into an nightmare signing for Barcelona, but the club might not be able to afford to sell the 21-year-old.
According to German newspaper Die Welt, if Barcelona sell Dembele before his contract expires they will have to pay the full €147 million due on his contract.
Barcelona paid €108m to Borussia Dortmund last summer for Dembele and are currently making their way though an additional €39m of add-on payments.
They have already paid a further €5m once he passed 25 appearances and a further €5m when the club qualified for this season’s Champions League.
But avoiding footing the bill for the remaining €30m to be paid for subsequent appearance milestones, Champions League qualification, and trophies won looked to be one of the advantages of cashing in on the 21-year-old sooner rather than later.
But Die Welt claims the player’s contract stipulates that if he is sold before it expires in 2022 Barcelona would be liable for the full €39m of add-on payments originally agreed in the deal with Borussia Dortmund.
Dembele has fallen out of favour at Barcelona and former Barca manager Luis Suarez this week hcalled on Dembele to start fulfilling more ‘responsibilities’ and to ‘focus only on football’.
“Being a footballer is a privilege but it also brings responsibilities,” Suarez told reporters, as cited by Spanish media.
“Ousmane needs to focus only on the game and his career, there are examples of professionalism all across the dressing room at the club.
“He needs to start taking more responsibilities but the truth is that he deserves to be at this club and we all must support him.
“He has settled in well, has forged good relationships and he is a happy person.”
It is clear that not all is well at the Camp Nou between Barcelona and Dembele. The off the pitch issues with Dembele are starting to put off potential suitors like Arsenal and Liverpool, but nobody will play anywhere near the €147m that Barcelona paid for the striker.
And it is clear from the Die Welt revelations, that if Barcelona were to sell him, they are looking at close to a €100m loss on the player. That is something that even a club the size of Barcelona cannot afford.
