Ousmane Dembele Banned from Switching Off his Phone

Barcelona have been forced to ban young star Ousmane Dembele from turning off his phone after he once again failed to arrive on time for training.

Earlier this week, Dembele begged his team-mates for forgiveness in a private dressing-room speech after being fined £90,000 for turning up two hours late to training.

Now, according to Spanish outlet Marca, manager Ernesto Valverde has instructed the Frenchman to keep his phone on all the time so that he can be contactable if another issue arises. 

Valverde is said to be content with the player’s improvement off the pitch and believes he has taken positive steps towards changing his attitude.

It is believed Dembele enjoys playing video games and watching TV until the early hours of the morning, which is the main issue. 

According to reports in ESPN, Dembele picked up a hefty fine after security officials were tasked with finding him just hours after he starred in the club’s 4-0 win over Espanyol at the weekend.  

While his team-mates turned up on time for the session, the Frenchman was two hours late – and shortly after was keen to issue a grovelling apology for his actions.

SPORT newspaper wrote that Dembele gathered his team-mates in the dressing room at the start of the week to say sorry for being late, with the apology going down well among his team-mates.

He has since gone on to score an incredible goal in the Champions League, picking up the ball in his own half before dribbling the length of the pitch to fire past Hugo Lloris in the Tottenham goal. 

It is understood that Dembele has promised both his team-mates and management that he will not be late for training again, and Valverde offered some words of warning after the draw with Tottenham.

“He has made a great goal, possible for players with his talent,” he said. 

“We are happy with him and we said that throughout the season things happen that we try to solve internally.

“We hope that he and the rest will continue to give us much joys. I do not know [if the case is closed], tomorrow we have training.”