Ousmane Dembele 'delighted' to join PSG

France's Ousmane Dembele has completed his move from Barcelona to Paris-Saint Germain on a five-year deal, both clubs announced on Saturday.

Barcelona said they reached an agreement with PSG on Dembele's transfer for €50.4 million.

Dembele, 26, was part of France's 2018 World Cup-winning squad. He joined Barcelona in 2017 and had extended his contract last year until 2024.

Dembele has won 37 caps for France, scoring four goals.

"I'm delighted to be joining Paris Saint-Germain and can't wait to play for my new club," Dembele said in a statement. "I hope I can continue to grow here and make all the club's fans proud."

He is the club's ninth summer signing after defenders Milan Skriniar and Lucas Hernandez, midfielders Manuel Ugarte and Cher Ndour, forwards Marco Asensio, Lee Kang-in and Goncalo Ramos and goalkeeper Arnau Tenas.

At Barcelona, despite early problems adjusting to the Catalan side and injuries, Dembele scored 40 goals in 185 matches, winning three league titles in 2018, 2019 and 2023 and two Spanish Cups 2018 and 2021.

PSG are bolstering their attacking options with the futures of stars Kylian Mbappe and Neymar still uncertain.

"The passion and determination shown by Ousmane when he joined PSG is fantastic and is the attitude required for all our players," said PSG president Nasser Al Khelaifi.

"We are proud to have another French World Cup winner in Paris Saint-Germain at the moment. to enter a new great era for our club."

His exit comes with the Spanish champions needing to reduce their debt and lower their wage burden. They are left with Raphinha, Ferran Torres and Ansu Fati as forwards in support of star striker Robert Lewandowski.

Notable salonnières of the Middle East through history

Al Khasan (Okaz, Saudi Arabia)

Tamadir bint Amr Al Harith, known simply as Al Khasan, was a poet from Najd famed for elegies, earning great renown for the eulogy of her brothers Mu’awiyah and Sakhr, both killed in tribal wars. Although not a salonnière, this prestigious 7th century poet fostered a culture of literary criticism and could be found standing in the souq of Okaz and reciting her poetry, publicly pronouncing her views and inviting others to join in the debate on scholarship. She later converted to Islam.

Maryana Marrash (Aleppo)

A poet and writer, Marrash helped revive the tradition of the salon and was an active part of the Nadha movement, or Arab Renaissance. Born to an established family in Aleppo in Ottoman Syria in 1848, Marrash was educated at missionary schools in Aleppo and Beirut at a time when many women did not receive an education. After touring Europe, she began to host salons where writers played chess and cards, competed in the art of poetry, and discussed literature and politics. An accomplished singer and canon player, music and dancing were a part of these evenings.

Princess Nazil Fadil (Cairo)

Princess Nazil Fadil gathered religious, literary and political elite together at her Cairo palace, although she stopped short of inviting women. The princess, a niece of Khedive Ismail, believed that Egypt’s situation could only be solved through education and she donated her own property to help fund the first modern Egyptian University in Cairo.

Mayy Ziyadah (Cairo)

Ziyadah was the first to entertain both men and women at her Cairo salon, founded in 1913. The writer, poet, public speaker and critic, her writing explored language, religious identity, language, nationalism and hierarchy. Born in Nazareth, Palestine, to a Lebanese father and Palestinian mother, her salon was open to different social classes and earned comparisons with souq of where Al Khansa herself once recited.