Transfer News: Barcelona star Ousmane Dembele “signed” pre-contract agreement with Chelsea
According to Spanish newspaper Sport [Print Edition] via Sport Witness (h/t Football.London), Barcelona believe winger Ousmane Dembele has already “signed” a pre-contract agreement with Chelsea ahead of the summer transfer window. He is in line to leave Camp Nou at the end of this campaign and could potentially move to England after all.
Dembele will see his current deal with the Catalans expire in the 2021-22 season. That means he is legally able to reach a pre-contract agreement with clubs outside Spain at this moment. And Barca believe “everything indicates” towards his agent having already signed an offer with another club.
Furthermore, the Blaugrana side thinks the Blues are the ones who have secured the services of the 24-year-old ahead of next season. The English club was keen to finalise a move for him last month, so it does make sense why the La Liga club came to this conclusion.
Dembele to join Chelsea?
While the Frenchman has struggled to keep fit throughout his time in Spain, he has been able to keep himself fit since returning from his last injury. Hence, any major risk associated with signing him could be reduced with the help of a free transfer.
That being said, a Bosman transfer is seldom accompanied by a signing-on bonus and agent fees which add to the list of expenses involved in a move. There is no indication if that will be a part of any potential deal here, but we do hope the club assesses the financial impact of signing the Frenchman before finalizing any deal.
Moreover, the West London club would be wise to reassess the Borussia Dortmund man’s current salary package of £210,000-a-week that he is pocketing in Barcelona. His performances in the past few seasons arguably fail to warrant such an amount.
If we do sign Dembele, it would mean a reunion for the ex-Stade Rennais man with Thomas Tuchel. Both of them enjoyed great success during their time together at Signal Iduna Park. The winger has played 49 matches under Tuchel and has scored ten goals while providing 21 assists in that time.
If the ex-Mainz boss can help the France international finally reach his potential, this deal could potentially end up being a good one for us. The winger has fared well during his short time under Xavi Hernandez so far. Fans would now be hopeful that Marina Granovskaia would live up to her reputation and factor in the risk involved before agreeing to terms with the attacker.
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Nothing is really official in football unless we hear it from the club, or clubs themselves. And it remains to be seen if we ever get to see Dembele don our famous Blues jersey as early as this summer.