Dortmund firm on Dembele
Print Edition
BORUSSIA Dortmund’s CEO Hans-Joachim Watzke yesterday rubbished claims by Barcelona general manager Pep Segura that the Spanish giant was ‘close’ to signing the German club’s want-away winger Ousmane Dembele.
“Barcelona have not managed to fulfil their wish to complete Dembele’s transfer — until now, they aren’t one millimeter closer,” Watzke told German magazine Kicker.
Watzke’s views referred to Segura’s claim on Wednesday that Barcelona is “close” to completing a deal for Dembele as well as Liverpool’s Philippe Coutinho.
Dembele, 20, has a contract until 2021 and was suspended indefinitely by Dortmund last week for skipping training in a personal protest to pressure the club to sell him to Barcelona.
The Frenchman is suspended for Dortmund’s opening Bundesliga match against VfL Wolfsburg tomorrow, which is an unwelcome distraction for new Borussia coach Peter Bosz.
“It is not possible to completely blend it out, but I try to focus on the players who are here, which he isn’t,” said Bosz when asked about Dembele.
“I don’t know what will happen, we have to be patient for a few more days.”
Barcelona wants to sign both Dembele and Coutinho as attacking reinforcements after losing Neymar to Paris Saint-Germain.
According to Spanish media, Barcelona is offering 80 million euros (US$93.5 million), plus a bonus of 40 million euros, but Dortmund wants 150 million euros for Dembele — 10 times what it paid Rennes in 2016.
Dembele’s decision to strike has irked his teammates.
He missed Saturday’s 4-0 win at minnow Rielasingen-Arlen in the first round of the German Cup when Gabon hot-shot Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang scored a hat-trick.
Dortmund defender Sokratis Papastathopoulos says Dembele should follow the example of Aubameyang, who has been linked to a big-money move to China but has been told that he is staying. “Ousmane is a good lad, but he has to recognize that no player is bigger than the team,” Sokratis told yesterday’s edition of magazine Kicker.
“Everyone has to be clear that he must work for the team and fall in line. This also applies to Ousmane — he can’t just do whatever he wants.
“Ousmane has done no good by going on strike. He should not forget that he still has a long-term contract at Dortmund,” Sokratis said, adding that he hopes Dembele will return to training soon.
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