Barcelona worried Ousmane Dembélé has fallen in with the wrong crowd | OneFootball

Barcelona fear Ousmane Dembélé is being led astray by his friends and may be forced to sell him if he doesn’t buck his ideas up soon.

That’s according to Catalan outlet Sport, who released a detailed report on Sunday which perhaps sheds some light on why Dembélé was dropped for last weekend’s LaLiga defeat to Real Betis.

Sport claim Dembélé didn’t turn up for training on the Thursday before the Betis game and was uncontactable until 30 minutes after the 11:00 session had begun.

When they finally were able to get hold of him, the 21-year-old said he was suffering from a stomach illness and asked a member of the club’s medical department to visit him at home.

The club doctor soon arrived at Dembélé’s house to find all the blinds drawn and when he knocked at the door, one of the winger’s friends answered. Inside the house, the doctor found several more friends still sleeping, despite the fact it was almost midday.

Dembélé reiterated that he was feeling unwell and he was advised to stay in bed and rest. As a result, Barça boss Ernesto Valverde decided not to select him for the weekend’s match.

The club are apparently suspicious that Dembélé was feigning illness and had in fact overslept after staying up too late playing PlayStation with his friends the night before.

The France international shares a house with many of his childhood friends from where he grew up in France and the club are reportedly concerned about the influence this is having on his career.

Sport say Dembélé’s agent has been informed that if he wants to stay at Barcelona he must knuckle down, act professionally and cut down on the time spent playing PlayStation with his friends.

The former Borussia Dortmund man has scored four times in 11 LaLiga appearances so far this season but did not feature when France took on the Netherlands in the UEFA Nations League on Friday.