FC Barcelona could lose out on selling Ousmane Dembele.
Getty ImagesParis Saint-Germain are threatening to abandon their expected purchase of Ousmane Dembele and have given his current employers FC Barcelona 24 hours to resolve the matter according to Mundo Deportivo.
Dembele was believed to be on his way to completing a €50 million ($55 million) transfer to the French capital last weekend until a lack of necessary documentation for PSG’s legal department held things up.
The Frenchman was called to return from Paris to training in Catalonia on Sunday. But on Tuesday, after the Joan Gamper Trophy match against Tottenham Hotspur, sporting director Mateu Alemany appeared to confirm that the switch would be done shortly.
„We are in the process of resolving the transfer. Dembele is no longer in the first team dynamic, otherwise he would have been at the Gamper,“ Alemany revealed at full time from the Montjuic Stadium.
„Dembele is in Paris. When the agreement is signed, we will communicate the figures of the operation and with that we close another folder,“ he added.
On Thursday, RMC Sport reported that Dembele had completed his medical and would be unveiled by the Ligue 1 champions shortly.
In a report released approaching midnight in Spain by Mundo Deportivo, however, the Catalan daily newspaper explains that this probably won’t be the case with PSG’s patience running thin.
They thought Dembele would already be on their books for Saturday’s season opener against Lorient at the Parc des Princes, but have found that Barca are not closing the deal and are instead slowing things down through taking their time discussing the final details of the agreement.
This has led to the Qatari-owned outfit delivering Barca an ultimatum: if they do not complete the switch within 24 hours, PSG will pull out and wait for Dembele to become a free agent on June 30 next year.
Such a development would leave Barca at least €25 million ($27.5 million) out of pocket with the sum set to be split with Dembele and his agent Moussa Sissoko.
Another obstacle in the way of getting the transfer over the line is a dispute over how the money is divided, but Barca need as much cash as they can get while currently struggling to register players and navigate Financial Fair Play limits.
With only 12 players including Dembele registered for their own season debut away at Getafe on Sunday, Alemany and president Joan Laporta will want to see Dembele off ASAP and focus on the road ahead in 2023/2024.