Ousmane Dembele was dropped to Barcelona bench for Inter Milan match ‘after arriving 25-minutes late for match’
French winger has had issues with punctuality amid struggle to settle at Nou Camp since £130million move in 2017
OUSMANE DEMBELE was reportedly dropped after arriving 25 minutes late for Barcelona’s Champions League clash with Inter Milan.
claim boss Ernesto Valverde asked his players to arrive at the Nou Camp for 7pm local time, two hours before kick-off.
But Dembele, 21, was the last to arrive, almost half an hour late.
The French winger was then left on the bench throughout the 2-0 victory, despite Lionel Messi being ruled out with a broken arm.
It was noted that Dembele was never even sent to warm up during the 90 minutes.
The former Borussia Dortmund wonderkid has struggled to settle at Barcelona since his £130million move in 2017.
His first season with the Catalan giants was severely hampered by a hamstring injury which restricted him to just 17 league appearances.
But punctuality for training is also believed to have hampered his progress throughout his spell in Spain.
Defender Gerard Pique even joked about it last season, saying: “We have a Whatsapp group to talk about the timetables. It's going well… because Dembele always arrives late.”
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Barcelona have insisted to local paper that the meeting time was actually set for 7.20 and Dembele was NOT late.
It remains to be seen whether he will be considered for selection for Sunday's Clasico with Real Madrid.
Dembele has netted three times in nine La Liga games so far this season.