Ousmane Dembele situation: The Barcelona forward might be suffering from a ‘gaming disorder,’ fears the club.
Ousmane Dembele has been in the headlines for all the wrong seasons in the past few weeks. The forward was dropped for the game against Real Betis after failure to show up in the training, and his ill-discipline has been a cause of worry for Valverde as well as the members of Barca staff.
Didier Deschamps talked about Dembele’s attitude in detail ahead of the ongoing international break last week, where he stated that the forward needs to learn.
Gerard Pique, who is Dembele’s teammate at Barcelona, defended the forward, insisting that everyone makes mistakes in their youth. He believes that the Frenchman will learn from the experience.
However, it is reported that Dembele missed another training session for Barca, complaining about a ‘sore stomach.’ However, AS reports that Dembele actually spent a whole night gaming and failed to wake up on time.
Ousmane Dembele situation:
This isn’t the first time when Dembele failed to communicate the reason of his absence. Spanish outlet AS reports that the French forward was due to arrive for training on 11:00 AM, but didn’t report on time.
It was not until the club’s staff phoned him 30 minutes later, that the club managed to communicate with the player.
#FCBarcelona fear forward Ousmane Dembele has developed a gaming addiction, causing him to lose track of time and miss training – Diario AS https://t.co/FG171ws7F6 pic.twitter.com/DvPwSMsY7c
— footballespana (@footballespana_) November 19, 2018
AS reports that the late-night gaming sessions for Dembele have hampered his daily routine to such an extent that Barcelona are considering parting ways with the player.
While his professionalism has been in question, Dembele is undoubtedly one of the most talented youngsters in football at the moment. He has impressed the fans in the inconsistent game time he has received this season.
Ousmane Dembélé missed training last Thursday because he was up late playing video games with friends on Wednesday. Dembélé forgot to set his alarm and claimed he had a ‘sore stomach’ the next day. Barça fears Dembélé has a gaming disorder. [as] pic.twitter.com/y9a7TMLLuO
— FutbolBible (@FutbolBible) November 18, 2018
Barcelona’ general manager, Pep Segura earlier stated in an interview with ESPN that the club is working with Dembele to get the best out of him. He also admitted that it is difficult for any player to adapt to life at Barcelona.
“It’s a normal situation for a young player with a lot of talent who has arrived at a club as big as Barca, full of great players,” Segura stated.
Ousmane Dembélé has been given an ultimatum. The club will continue to punish him by not playing him if he doesn’t change his attitude very shortly. [sport] pic.twitter.com/b0DPHtJEVd
— Barça Centre (@barcacentre) November 19, 2018
“He had never experienced that before and there’s an adaptation process that he has to go through.
“He’s really young and he’s never had to get up to adjust to a playing style like ours. We admit he’s finding it difficult. He also recognizes that. What we are doing is working as hard as possible so that he can adapt in the best possible way.”
