After "a couple of weeks of uncertainty," Borussia Dortmund "reached an agreement to sell" Ousmane Dembélé to Barcelona, according to DEUTSCHE WELLE. The deal is the "most expensive sale by a German club in football history." The signing was confirmed by a Borussia Dortmund statement on Friday. The club said in the statement, "Barcelona will pay BVB a fixed transfer compensation in the amount of 105 million euros ($125 million). Moreover and in addition, the parties agreed contingent payments up to the maximum amount equivalent to approximately 40 percent of the amount of the fixed transfer compensation." The complicated deal would make "the ultimate transfer fee the second biggest in football history" (DW, 8/25).
BETTER LATE THAN NEVER: ESPN.com's Sid Lowe wrote Barcelona "may never have needed a signing quite as badly; few clubs can ever have needed a signing so badly." Few club presidents "have needed a signing this much," that is "for sure." Josep Maria Bartomeu's grip on the presidency "is slipping." Dembélé's signing "was driven not just by what was happening on the pitch, although that remains the bottom line, but also by everything that was happening off it." Neymar's departure "knocked Barcelona sideways." Neymar's departure "changes things," Manager Ernesto Valverde said. It "changed everything." Barcelona "appeared to have lost control, although a final judgment should really wait until the final day" (ESPN.com, 8/26).
