Dembélé: Barça's most expensive signing and second of all time
The France international has cost the Camp Nou board 105 million euros with 40 more in add-ons, eclipsing Neymar's transfer from Santos.
Ousmane Dembélé’s move to Barcelona from Borussia Dortmund has made the 20-year-old France international the Camp Nou’s most expensive signing of all time and placed the winger second in the list of the most valuable transfers in the history of football.
Dembélé deal worth a potential 145 million euros
Barcelona paid Dortmund 105 million euros for Dembélé’s services with another 40 million in potential add-ons during the course of his five-year contract. The move is pending a medical on Monday but if there are no unforeseen problems the France winger will have increased in value by a possible 130 million euros in the space of a year after he signed for Dortmund from Rennes for 15 million euros last summer.
Dembélé has overtaken Neymar’s previous record for a Barcelona transfer, with the Brazil international costing the Camp Nou a total of 88.2 million euros when he joined from Santos in 2013. Luis Suárez is third on the list, the Uruguay forward moving from Liverpool a year later for a fee of 81.7 million euros. In fourth place is another of Barça’s signings this summer, Paulinho, who arrived from Guangzhou Evergrande in exchange for 40 million euros.
Neymar tops all-time list ahead of Dembélé
In the overall ranking, Dembélé is now the second most-expensive player in the history of football behind Neymar, whose 222-million-euro move from Barça to PSG may last awhile at the top of the list. Dembélé overtakes Paul Pogba, who moved from Juventus to Manchester United for the same amount last summer, on the basis that the add-ons in the deal are worth more than his France teammate’s agreement at Old Trafford.
Neymar’s record-breaking move came during a summer of inflated prices in the international market that has seen four new players enter the top 10 most expensive transfer of all time: Romelu Lukaku and Álvaro Morata join Neymar and Dembélé on the list after moving from Everton to Manchester United and Real Madrid to Chelsea respectively.
The 10 most expensive transfers of all time:
| Player | Price (millions of euros) | Purchasing club |
| Neymar | 222 | PSG |
| Ousmane Dembélé | 105 | Barcelona |
| Paul Pogba | 105 | Manchester United |
| Gareth Bale | 101 | Real Madrid |
| Cristiano Ronaldo | 96 | Real Madrid |
| Neymar | 88.2 | Barcelona |
| Romelu Lukaku | 84.7 | Manchester United |
| Luis Suárez | 81.7 | Barcelona |
| Álvaro Morata | 80 | Chelsea |
| Ángel Di María / James | 75 | Manchester United / Real Madrid |
