Dembele in at Nou Camp with £368m buy-out fee

Barcelona yesterday confirmed the capture of Borussia Dortmund winger Ousmane Dembele, subject to passing a medical, as they begin rebuilding their attack following the departure of Neymar to Paris St-germain.

The two clubs have agreed a fee of £96.8million plus add-ons, and the French international will sign a five-year contract with a massive buy-out clause of £368.7m.

The 20-year-old had 20 assists in all competitions last season and scored 10 goals, as well as winning his first senior cap for France against Italy last September.

Dembele will have his medical on Monday and, all being well, that formality will be followed by his presentation to supporters at the Nou Camp. Ernesto Valverde, the Barcelona head coach, will hope that the speedy winger’s trickery and dribbling ability will help to fill the void left by Neymar.

Dortmund revealed Dembele’s fee could rise to £135.5m due to additional bonus payments.

The German club said on their official website: “The payment of add-ons was agreed up to a maximum total amount of approximately 40 per cent of the fixed transfer fee.”

Liverpool’s Philippe Coutinho has been the subject of several huge bids from Barcelona, and it remains to be seen if the arrival of Dembele will see the club cool their interest in the Brazilian. Former Tottenham midfield player Paulinho is another purchase over a summer in which Barcelona’s transfer policy has fallen under intense scrutiny.