The ruinous business of Barcelona with Dembélé: each of his goals has cost 3.3 million

Seven years ago, Barcelona signed Ousmane Dembélé, with a checkbook, as a replacement for a Neymar for whom PSG paid 222 million euros. At that time, with an operation that could reach 135 million if all the variables were met, the Frenchman became the most expensive signing in the club's history.. At least, until, just a few months later, he was surpassed by the Brazilian Philippe Coutinho, who would later leave the Camp Nou to go to Aston Villa at a bargain price.

Now, the Frenchman will also pack his bags to go to the club chaired by the Qatari Nasser Al-Khelaïfi after also establishing himself as one of the most ruinous incorporations in the entire history of the Barcelona entity. And not only because of the 50 million euro transfer fee, half of which will be pocketed if the team led by Joan Laporta fails to avoid it.. Above all, because of a baggage that does not justify, at all, neither the investment nor the expectations that were placed on his shoulders.

The way in which his departure from Barça has been developed has not gone down well with Xavi, his great supporter and architect of the fact that the club ended up reinstating him in July 2022, once his contract had already expired.. “I wish him all the luck in the world, but I'm a little disappointed with Dembélé. He told us that he was leaving and there has been no way to convince him,” the Barca coach said on Wednesday after the 0-1 win against Milan, with a goal from Ansu Fati, who after scoring hugged the Frenchman as a farewell. The winger, as planned, did not play the game.

Dembélé's decision contrasts, and a lot, with the pulse that the coach himself launched at the club in January of last year. So, the dome decided to leave the footballer in the stands, while the Terrassa coach insisted on the need to have the player on the pitch. In the end, of course, he got away with it. With the numbers in hand, the cost of Dembélé has been exorbitant. The investment to achieve his transfer, without counting his file, rose to around 135 million euros, given that many of the variables included were not excessively complicated to comply with.

discreet statistics

The statistics do not lie and his performances throughout his time as a Barcelona fan are far from justifying figures of authentic crack. Throughout his six seasons in the ranks of the Barça club, he has only played 185 official matches, in which he has scored 40 goals. Or, put another way, each goal by Dembélé, if we take into account only the amount paid for the transfer, has cost Barça almost 3.3 million euros.

Its availability, moreover, has not been up to par either. In the last six years, muscle injuries have been a drag. Before his arrival in Barcelona, he had hardly had any physical problems.. From the summer of 2017 until the end of last season, on the other hand, the Frenchman missed 116 games due to multiple ailments, including two muscle tears.. His season with fewer injuries was 2020-21, with six games in the dry dock. The worst was 2019-20, in which he lost 37 games.

His departure from the club will close with the payment of 50 million euros by PSG. In principle, both the entity chaired by Joan Laporta and the player himself should distribute them equally. At the club, however, they understand that Dembélé's way of acting when managing times to force his departure has not corresponded to the minimum required diligence and they want the amount that is pocketed to be finally somewhat less. A circumstance that, in fact, would be one of the reasons that would be lengthening in time an operation that, by all accounts, would already be more than closed. This Friday is the deadline to announce his departure to PSG.