Barcelona pay Borussia Dortmund extra £4.4m for Ousmane Dembele's transfer, bringing total fee to £115m
Reports have emerged that Barcelona paid Borussia Dortmund an extra sum of £4.4 million after Ousmane Dembele made his 50th appearance for the club.
This brings the total value of his transfer fee to £115 million, and there would be more payments to follow in the coming months.
According to German publication Kicker, Barcelona had to pay the extra money as a result of some add-ons which were included in Dembele's contract and if all conditions are met, the fee could ultimately reach £136 million.
The Blaugrana agreed to pay the sum of £4.4 million each time the France international reached an appearance milestone, including for his 25th, 50th, 75th, and 100th competitive appearance for the Catalan giants.
With the World Cup winner having made 83 appearances for Barcelona, the Bundesliga outfit have already received three payments and are in line for a fourth in the coming months provided that Dembele can stay fit.
Barcelona paid Dortmund the sum of £96 million to sign Dembele in the summer of 2017, and it was believed that he would be a direct replacement for Neymar after the Brazil international completed a transfer to Paris Saint-Germain.
However, he started his Camp Nou career on a disastrous note, with a long-term injury ruling him out for several months, and this has been a recurring theme for the last three years.
As it stands, the 23-year-old has missed almost 100 games for Barcelona due to several different injuries, and this has severely limited his impact on the club.
While his talent might not be in doubt, the fact that Dembele cannot stay fit for an extended run has seen him lose his standing in the first team. There are also indications that he is being monitored by clubs across Europe.
Time running out for Ousmane Dembele to make something out of his Barcelona career
Despite having spent four seasons at Camp Nou, it is hard to point at significant contributions that Ousmane Dembele has made at Barcelona. While injuries might have played a key role, the former Rennes man has simply failed to justify his huge transfer fee.
He had been usurped by the emerging Ansu Fati in the last one year. Despite the injury to the Spain international, Ronald Koeman prefers the likes of Philippe Coutinho and Pedri over him.
With his deal at Barcelona set to expire in 2022, the club will be looking to cash in on him next summer, although it might be hard to recoup a significant sum, given his poor track record with injuries.