He didn't cost 150m, but he probably cost around 105m with add-ons that I doubt he's fulfilled. He hasn't provided a return on whatever your concept of 105m should, no, but the stupidest decision would be then to let him go for dirt cheap, or even worse on a loan with option to buy, than actually just stick by him and figure out a way to get him back to his fitness prior to joining Barcelona. It's also unfair for you to say thanks to him, Barcelona are losing money, Dembele doesn't want to be injured, and it's Barcelona's decision to have spent that much because they were pretty much in a daze after PSG's knockout transfer, it's got very little to do with the player, I don't like when people lord over a player's transfer amount over them like they had anything to do with it, or even asked for it.
Letting him go on loan as you suggest is a bad move IMO that is not going to make them better or give them enough to make a difference from their financial predicament. If Barcelona let him go at cut price, I feel it's more to do with the fact that his latest injury is one he's never going to be the same from here on out, which would be a shame. Then again, Barcelona's board is mostly incompetent, so logic doesn't always apply to them.
First of all, my apologies about misquoting the price. You’re probably right and he mustn’t have fulfilled all the add-on obligations.
Also - my apologies again, I didn’t mean to say ‘thanks to him (Dembele)’ in a direct tone aimed at Dembele. Obviously his injuries are not his own fault. What I meant to say was thanks to his injury record, the acquisition of him has been a loss more than anything else to Barca.
But I think decisions regarding Dembele are, how should I say this, past the point where you try to make sense of whatever you decide to do now. The decisions may appear stupid but as a business, and one that is in deep financial trouble as Barca seem to be in, the question is do we minimize our losses or lose more now than what we’ve already lost.
The noise coming out of Barca has been indicating that they love him and he’s there for the long term so I wouldn’t even be surprised if they continue to show faith in him knowing he’s still mad young and could get past all his issues.
But all my points are based on the long term perspective. I think Barca are at a very critical point now. He has 2 years left on his contract. If he gets injured again they’re stuck with him and maybe more definitely. Then they may even lose him on a free transfer once his contract is over. So if they truly are in a financial crisis and a club does come offer to take him away, they may not feel as confident about keeping him then let’s say they did even last year.
The reason I think how I do, is because in most cases, clubs don’t like to hold on players that are becoming more and more of a liability with each passing day. Just look at us with Sanchez. We can see he’s back in form and performing but we’d rather he go be another clubs asset and potential liability then our own at his age. Dembele is young, sure, but his injury record is like that of a 30 year old in a way and with 2 years left on a contract, will he fetch any fees with a year left? I can assure you Barca will not be able to answer that question definitely because what if he gets injured again. Nobody will come and pay for him. They’ll just wait to take a risk on him if he’s available on a free transfer.
Also - I didn’t hold Dembele’s price tag over him. But I do hold that price tag as a huge burden on Barca as a club. Letting him go will be a bad move as you say but to say it won’t make enough or much of a difference to their financial predicament is totally not true. Just like based on my long term approach, they can either be content with receiving whatever they can for him this summer with a straight out sale or a loan + obligation to buy next summer. Because if they don’t decide to sell him, whatever amount they would’ve received will not be incoming and if his injuries continue, that amount will basically be an added loss by the time his contract ends. So essentially 105m lost. As compared to receiving even up to 50m by getting rid of him. I hope you get where I’m coming from now.