Ousmane Dembele repeatedly arrives late to Barcelona training
Barcelona winger Ousmane Dembele has reported late for team training yet again according to Marca. New manager Ronald Koeman reportedly wants players to show up for training an hour earlier at 10:00 CEST.
However, Dembele, it would seem, showed up at 10.15 CEST. It remains to be seen how the Dutch coach will opt to deal with the player's lack of time-keeping.
The 23-year-old French winger has a history of discipline-related problems during his tenure at Barcelona. The report from Marca states that this isn't the first instance of him showing up later than mandated for training - during this season previous ones.
Dembele once even missed training in 2018-19 after sleeping in, prompting rumours that the club wanted to cut their losses and dispense with his services. However, he was re-integrated with the squad and has continued strutting his stuff at the Nou Camp.
Dembele suffered a very unfortunate 2019-20 season at the club, being sidelined for the majority of the campaign due to injury. The winger only managed 9 appearances for the club in that time. He was once again on the bench for Barcelona's first game of the 2020-21 season, coming on for youngster Ansu Fati in the 70th minute.
Barcelona coach Ronald Koeman is a disciplinarian
Inter Milan striker Romelu Lukaku revealed recently that Barcelona coach Ronald Koeman was always on his case, but that was the reason why he appreciates his role in his career.
Lukaku said:
"[Koeman used to say:] 'You don't run enough! You're lazy! You got all that quality, but you don't do enough! And that gave me some kind of burning energy! I'm glad I had him as a coach. He's definitely in the top three best coaches I've had."
"Before he arrived I wanted to leave Everton, but after our first conversation, I realised that he is honest and open and that it wouldn't be bad to play for him. I'm very happy that I had him as my coach. He was strict, but that's what I needed."
It remains to be seen how Ronald Koeman handles Ousmane Dembele, especially as he has a reputation of being a disciplinarian.