Barcelona Unveil Dembele Amid Calls For Bartomeu’s Resignation

French wonder kid Ousmane Dembele, has become the most expensive player in Barcelona’s history after signing a five-year deal at the Catalan club alongside the club’s president Josep Maria Bartomeu on Monday.

The 20-year-old became the second most expensive player ever after completing a deal for an initial £96.8m fee, potentially rising to £135.5m, eclipsed only by Neymar’s recent £200m move to Paris St-Germain.

However, Barca’s planned programme for a blockbuster presentation was delayed for nearly two hours due to a paperwork issue in releasing his registration from Dortmund.

The patience of 18 000 fans at the Camp Nou was tested with whistles during the delay and chants of “Bartomeu resign”.

Barca’s board has been under huge pressure due to the club’s fading fortunes on the field and the loss of Neymar to Paris Saint-Germain for a world record of 222 million euros earlier this month.

The attendance was also well down on the 50 000 fans that welcomed Neymar on his presentation four years ago.

Following Barca’s recent 5-1 aggregate thrashing by Real Madrid in the Spanish Super Cup, the hashtag “bartomeudimiteya” (Bartomeu resign now) became a trending topic worldwide on Twitter.

The French youngster finally emerged in Barca’s famous red and blue strip, sporting the number 11 jersey vacated by Neymar.

“I’m 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.

“It is the best club in the world with the best players in the world.” Dembele said after signing his contract.

“I hope we’ll have a great season and win all the titles with Barca,” the Frenchman continued.

“I hope to integrate myself well into the team, to get on well with everyone and the fans here in this beautiful stadium.”

Dembele becomes Barca’s fifth signing of the summer, following the arrivals of Marlon Santos, Gerard Deulofeu, Nelson Semedo and Paulinho.