Nasser Al-Khelaifi spoke to Canal+ about the contractual situation of Ousmane Dembele, whose entourage has begun discussions with PSG about an extension. And the Parisian president took care to flatter his Ballon d'Or winner, while conveying the message that the club would not do anything crazy.

Crowned Ballon d'Or 2025 after a stunning season with PSG, both collectively and individually, Ousmane Dembele is the highest-paid player in the Parisian locker room, with an estimated gross monthly salary of 1.5 million euros, or 18 million euros per year. A salary negotiated in 2023 during his transfer from Barcelona, and valid until 2028.

But for a few weeks now, PSG and his entourage have begun to discuss the idea of an extension, and the question of salary is central. Some media have leaked that PSG had offered Dembele 30 million euros per year and that the latter was demanding double that. Information denied by the player's camp, which insists it has not received any concrete offer from PSG for the moment.

MORE: PSG's Vitinha Laments Familiar Story After Champions League Loss to Sporting

This Tuesday, before PSG's 2-1 defeat in Lisbon, Nasser Al-Khelaifi spoke to Canal+ about the contractual situation of his number 10: "The club's policy is that we have a salary cap for the players, as everyone knows. Everyone must respect it. The team and the club are more important than anyone," stated the PSG president.

Bringing up the salary cap in such a manner is not neutral and can clearly be read as a message intended for the player's agent. Since April 2022, UEFA has revised its financial fair play and, since this 2025/26 season, has obligated clubs to limit their spending on player and coach salaries, transfers, and agent commissions to 70% of their revenue.

In other words, PSG can no longer offer crazy salaries like in the era of Neymar, Messi, and Mbappe, at the risk of finding itself under scrutiny by the governing body. For 18 months, PSG has also emphasized the collective and no longer seems to want a player who would earn three or four times more than his starting eleven teammates, in the interest of locker room balance and harmony. Could PSG make an exception for its Ballon d'Or winner? Al-Khelaifi's statement clearly does not seem to go in that direction.

Nevertheless, Al-Khelaifi took care to flatter his player in his Canal+ appearance, reminding him that he is now a legend of PSG: "Ousmane is a legend of the club. I love Ousmane as a player and as a person. Perhaps people don't know Ousmane as a person, but he is a wonderful person."

Roundtablesports is Free to join! You can post your own thoughts, comment on articles, and start conversations with our Roundtable Writers. Scroll up to the top of the page and click 'Join'.

Download the FREE Roundtable APP, and get even easier access to your favourite teams and news!