Ousmane Dembélé has joined Paris Saint-Germain from Barcelona, who said they had reached an agreement on his transfer for €50.4m (£43.5m).
Dembélé, 26, last year extended his contract with Barcelona until 2024 after his previous deal expired. He won three La Liga titles and two Spanish Cups in six years.
“I’m delighted to be joining Paris Saint-Germain and can’t wait to play for my new club,” Dembélé told the club’s website after signing a five-year contract. “I hope I can continue to grow here.”
Dembélé started his playing career at Rennes, making his debut in the 2015-16 season, before moving to Borussia Dortmund. He joined Barcelona for €105m plus add-ons on a five-year deal in 2017 and scored 40 goals along with 43 assists in 185 appearances.
The forward was part of France teams that won the World Cup in 2018 and reached the 2022 final last December. He joins the new signings Marco Asensio, Milan Skriniar, Lee Kang-in, Hugo Ekitike, Lucas Hernández and Manuel Ugarte at PSG. The club sacked Christophe Galtier as manager in July and appointed the former Barcelona and Spain coach Luis Enrique.
Luis Enrique has left out Kylian Mbappé, Neymar and Marco Verratti from his squad for Saturday’s season opener against Lorient. Mbappé is mired in a contract standoff and was widely expected not to be in the squad. He trained apart from the first-team regulars all week.
Neymar trained alone on Friday, with the club saying it was because he was recovering from a viral infection, but the Brazilian could leave this month. The 30-year-old Verratti, who has been in PSG’s midfield for 11 years, has been linked with a move to the lucrative Saudi Arabian Pro League.
Luis Enrique spoke to Neymar and Verratti and said at his news conference on Friday that “my decisions will clearly express my views”.
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PSG are aiming to win a record-extending 12th Ligue 1 title this season. The chairman, Nasser al-Khelaifi, said of Dembélé’s signing: “We are proud to be able to bring another French World Cup winner to Paris St-Germain as we enter a new great era for our club.”