Luis Suarez tells Ousmane Dembele to focus on football

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Luis Suarez has advised Barcelona teammate Ousmane Dembele to concentrate on football amid speculation regarding his off-field behaviour.

The 21-year-old French winger has been the subject of much discussion in recent months, with his professionalism coming into question.

What’s up with Ousmane Dembele? Five key things to know…

  1. Dembele’s former club, Borussia Dortmund, suspended him after he failed to attend training in August 2017.
  2. Neymar left Barcelona to join Paris Saint-Germain after the Ligue 1 activated his buyout clause.
  3. Barcelona subsequently signed Dembele for £96.8m, a club-record fee at the time.
  4. Dembele suffered a hamstring injury in September 2017, which sidelined him for around four months.
  5. He has completed just one of Barça’s opening 12 league games, and Dembele was left out of their squad for the last game against Real Betis.

Suarez, who has played alongside Dembele on many occasions and knows firsthand the distractions that can befall professional footballers, believes the World Cup-winner only need look around the Barcelona dressing room for role models.

“I think being a footballer is a privilege,” Suarez told reporters prior to France’s international friendly against Uruguay in Paris.

“I think he should focus on football, and take inspiration from the exemplary professionals in the Barcelona dressing room.”

Since arriving back from a successful summer with Les Bleus, there have been numerous stories written about Dembele in the Spanish press rekindling the kind of attitude he showcased whilst at former clubs Rennes and Dortmund.

Reports have suggested Dembele has not been arriving on time to training, with suggestions he’s become addicted to playing video games thus sleeping and waking up late.

More recently Dembele was dropped from Barça’s squad to face Real Betis, a game they would end up losing 4-3. Afterwards, manager Ernesto Valverde stated in his press conference that the omission was not a punishment, though there had been reports the winger had gone Awol from training.

Is Dembele’s reputation unfair?

Dembele, to date, has featured across no fewer than 38 matches for Barça in all competitions, subsequently bagging 10 goals and creating a further 10 for his teammates.

His time has also been blighted with injury having suffered two serious knocks during his debut campaign with the five-time European champions. Nonetheless, the 2017/18 culminated with Dembele becoming a Spanish champion while lifting the Copa del Rey; his performances also earned him a spot in Didier Deschamps squad at the World Cup finals in Russia.

France would become victorious, earning their second world championship, with Dembele would play in four of their seven matches (all but two coming from the bench) – for a total of 165 minutes.

However, he has now forced not one, but two multi-million-pound transfers in acrimonious circumstances by the age of 21, and his reported off-field behaviour hasn’t impressed former teammates, such as Dortmund legend Roman Weidenfeller, as well as fans on social media.

But others feel he should be left alone.

It remains to be seen whether Dembele features when Barcelona visit title rivals Atletico Madrid this weekend.

QUIZ: How many of Barcelona’s top 25 transfer signings can you name?

Dembele is one of Barça’s second-most expensive signing ever. But can you name the club’s all-time top 20? Have a go with our Sporcle quiz, and do let us know how you fared by leaving comments below or via Twitter @Squawka.


The post Luis Suarez tells Ousmane Dembele to focus on football appeared first on Squawka News.



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