Ousmane Dembele: Barcelona Complete Club-Record Deal For Dortmund Forward

Barcelona has completed a club-record deal to sign Borussia Dortmund forward Ousmane Dembele.

The Frenchman joined the Catalans for an initial £97m fee which can potentially rise to £135.5m. This will make him the second most expensive player of all time behind Neymar.

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The 20-year-old signed a five-year contract at the Nou Camp after completing his medical earlier on Monday.

After signing his contract alongside Barca president Josep Bartomeu, Dembele said:

“I am very happy to be here. It has always been my dream to be at Barcelona and now I’m here, I’m very happy to have achieved my dream.”

“This is the best club in the world with the best players in the world… my aim is to do everything for the club, everything for the team, and to have an understanding with my team-mates.”

He was presented to the fans moments later wearing the No 11 jersey vacated by Neymar. He performed a few ball skills and posed for photographs.

Barcelona coach Ernesto Valverde spoke of his admiration for the player as he insisted the forward is exactly the kind of threat his side lacked since Neymar left.

“He’s a player who guarantees an attacking threat, which is something we had lost and we badly need,” said Valverde.

“He can play on either wing or through the middle, he gets forward a lot and is very technical. We expect a lot from him and we’re very excited about him.”

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Ousmane Dembele joined Dortmund from French side Rees last May after being voted Ligue 1 young player of the year for the 2015-16 season. He scored 12 goals and made five assists.

Last season, Dembele scored 10 goals along with 21 assists as Dortmund finished third in the Bundesliga and won the German Cup. They also reached the Champions League quarter-finals.