Society Gists

Barcelona have announced the signing of Ousmane Dembélé from Borussia Dortmund for an initial €105m (£97m), plus a potential €42m (£38m) in add-ons. The 20-year-old forward has agreed a five-year contract with a €400m buyout clause, and will wear the No11 shirt vacated by Neymar.

Fleet-footed winger Ousmane Dembele has finally been granted his dream move to Barcelona as Borussia Dortmund pocket a massive transfer fee for the precocious French talent.

Having forced Dortmund’s hand by going on strike and refusing to train, the German club were left with little choice but to suspend the temperamental 20-year-old and eventually sell him to the Spanish giants.

The 105 million euros ($125 million) set to be forked out by Barcelona, not including potential add-ons, on Friday dwarfs the 15m euros Dortmund paid Rennes for Dembele in July 2016.

The high-profile move on a five-year deal means Dembele will fill the boots of his idol, Neymar, as Barcelona look to bolster their attack after the Brazilian’s record move to Paris Saint-Germain.

Dembele joined Rennes’ academy when he was 13 and having made his first team debut in November 2015, his silky skills combined with sudden bursts of pace and lethal crosses quickly dazzled defences.

Barely into his teenage years at the time, Dembele said his inspirations were Lionel Messi and Neymar – the former will be his new team-mate and the latter is the man he is replacing.

“They’re great players. I try to follow their games and copy what they do in training,” said a youthful Dembele while still at Rennes.

The 2015/16 season saw Dembele make his breakthrough, scoring 12 times in 26 games for Rennes in the French league and setting up five goals.