Barcelona manager Xavi confirms that Ousmane Dembele is moving to Paris Saint Germain (PSG) this summer. It was reported that the Ligue 1 champions have activated the release clause of 50m euro (£43m) of the former Borussia Dortmund man.

Xavi said to the BBC, “Ousmane Dembélé told us that he wants to leave and join PSG. We can’t compete; PSG's bid is huge and out of the market — he spoke to Luis Enrique and Al Khelaifi.”

“It hurts me because we cared for him to make him happy here. But we can’t compete. He’s leaving”.

“He has been very direct, that he has a proposal from Paris St-Germain, that they have called him from there, and here we cannot do anything. That is why he has not played today.

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As Xavi said, Dembele was an unused substitute during Barca's win over AC Milan in a pre-season friendly. The left-footed winger was signed as a replacement for Neymar in 2017 but never lived up to the hype that made him a world prospect at Borussia Dortmund. He moved to Barcelona for £135m.

This news disappointed Xavi because Dembele signed a two-year extension at Barcelona last summer. In the 2021/22 season, he secured the highest number of assists in La Liga. The left-footed winger has scored 40 goals in 185 games for the Catalans.

Despite being part of the French squad that reached the World Cup final, Dembele sustained a thigh injury that kept him out for the majority of the second half of the season. However, this damage wasn't as significant as Barcelona regained the La Liga title. The winger's last goal came against Real Madrid in a 3-0 win in this year's pre-season friendly.