Ousmane Dembele punished for absence as Borussia Dortmund reject Barcelona offer
Written by News on 11/08/2017
Borussia Dortmund have suspended Ousmane Dembele for missing training after they rejected an offer from Barcelona.
Dortmund boss Peter Bosz had admitted he was unaware of Dembele’s whereabouts after failing to contact him on the telephone on Thursday, before the club later confirmed the forward remains in the German city and will be punished for his absence.
"Ousmane Dembele today missed the BVB-training-session without any excuse," a club statement read. "The player seems to have done that intentionally. Because of that behaviour we will sanction him.
"The player is still in Dortmund. In consultation with our coach we have suspended him from all practice and match-activities until next week after our cup game."
Dembele, 20, is a target for Barcelona, along with Liverpool midfielder Philippe Coutinho, as the Spanish club aim to find a replacement for Neymar following his £200m move to Paris Saint-Germain.
On Thursday afternoon, the Bundesliga club announced to the Frankfurt Stock Exchange that talks had been held with Barcelona over the potential transfer of Dembele but ended without an agreement.
Sky in Germany understand Barcelona’s offer for Dembele was £82m plus add-ons.
The statement read: "During this meeting, the representatives of FC Barcelona submitted a bid which did not correspond to the player’s extraordinary footballing and other status and not to the present economic market situation of the European transfer market. BVB therefore rejected this offer.
"As there is no other offer from FC Barcelona to date, there is currently no transfer of the player to FC Barcelona and this is not currently likely."
Dortmund have previously insisted Dembele is not for sale, although Sky in Germany understands he would be allowed to leave for £135m.
After Dembele missed training on Thursday, Bosz said: "I have no idea why he wasn’t there. We tried to reach him but couldn’t.
"First I have to talk to Dembele, then he has to explain to me why he wasn’t here today. I hope nothing serious happened."
The France international scored 10 goals in 49 appearances last season after joining Dortmund for £13m from Rennes and helped the club win the DFB-Pokal Cup.
(c) Sky News 2017: Ousmane Dembele punished for absence as Borussia Dortmund reject Barcelona offer
