Troubled Ousmane Dembele has been issued with an ultimatum by Barcelona: show greater maturity or be sold.
The France international forward, who joined Barcelona from Borussia Dortmund for £96million last year, has set alarm bells ringing with his attitude in recent times.
Coach Ernesto Valverde left Dembele out of his squad for their match against Real Betis last weekend after he failed to turn up for training and the club could not track him down.
The 21-year-old claimed he had a stomach complaint but this had cleared up by the time a club doctor reached him.
The incident has tested the patience of Valverde and the Barcelona hierarchy, according to Spanish newspaper Sport, and Dembele has been issued with an ultimatum.
The club have tried to hammer home to Dembele that he needs to live football 24 hours a day in order to make it at Barcelona.
Despite being at the club for over a year, Dembele hasn’t fully integrated in the changing room and has been struggling with the language.
After leaving him out of the 4-3 home loss to Betis, Valverde has not ruled out dropping him for future matches if his attitude doesn’t improve.
Barcelona have ruled out selling him in January, but he could be moved on next summer if things don’t improve.
Liverpool and Arsenal have both emerged as potential suitors for Dembele with some reports suggesting Liverpool were ready to table a club-record offer in January.
Barcelona are resigned to the fact they will struggle to recoup the £96m they spent on the player.