Barcelona target Ousmane Dembele boycotted training in the past with Rennes says Mikael Silvestre

Mikael Silvestre 20:25 21/08/2017
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  • Ousmane Dembele wants to leave Borussia Dortmund for Barcelona and it’s no surprise to me – he has always been a determined character. When I was director of football at Rennes, he was 18 and also wanted to move. That was his own decision, it was not his family, entourage, or his agents, it was his decision and he boycotted training for five weeks.

    He was away in his hometown training by himself and he didn’t want to speak to any of us, just a few text messages stating that we were ruining his career.

    It took me a lot of time and perseverance to make him change his mind and come back to Rennes to sign his first pro contract with the club.

    I’m glad that we did it, it was a team effort but I was constantly on the phone trying to get the best out of him.

    He had two years left on his youth contract and he would have been away from competitive football and high-level training for two years, whether it was with the reserves or the first team. He had more to lose than Rennes did. I had an idea at that time that he would be sensational, but you never know how high the player can reach.

    I was trying to explain to him during that time that I also left Rennes in a difficult situation. But I was 20 when I moved to Inter Milan, and I’d already played 48 games for Rennes in the French league so that was different. Dembele had no professional experience and wanted to go abroad. He could have gone to Red Bull Salzburg or Benfica, but for him it was about pride.

    I said to put the pride aside, you’re going to shine and do well for Rennes – there is no doubt about this. My role was to really bring that confidence from the club into Ousmane’s head, because he had lost faith in the president and the coach.

    He thought he would be unwanted, on the bench or the reserves for the long time. I knew his talent would speak for itself, he just needed to come back and train and everything would be OK.

    Rennes rebel: Ousmane Dembele, left, after returning to play for the French club

    Rennes rebel: Ousmane Dembele, left, after returning to play for the French club

    For Ousmane it was a career plan, because his feeling was that the coach wasn’t going to play him so his talent would be wasted and go unnoticed. Finally he turned around completely, signed for Rennes and had an amazing season, then Dortmund came in – alongside all the big clubs in Europe. Barcelona, Real Madrid, Bayern Munich, Manchester City, you name them.

    By then he’s 19 and decides by himself again that he is going to go to Dortmund because they have faith in youth, and they have space for him to play every week.

    If you go back to his first interview he said his ultimate dream is to play for Barcelona one day. When he signed for Dortmund, he got word from the Dortmund president that if Barca were going to come for him they would listen.

    He feels now the 150 million requested is overpriced. I understand his stance but I don’t agree with it. But that’s his reaction and that’s what the French do, they go on strike!

    From his point of view it’s Barcelona or nothing. It’s power, for sure, in the player’s hands, and ultimately the money is too much for Dortmund to lose.

    Even if the club is in a healthy situation financially – they didn’t plan on selling him after a year – if you turn down a 120m offer, or even 100m, you don’t know what will happen in six months or a year’s time. Regardless, I think down the line the player will end up at Barcelona.

    Big step up for Seri

    With Barca, you can read between their movements for Paulinho and possibly Jean Michael Seri. They are clearly not planned transfer targets – they are in reaction mode. They were not planning on losing Neymar.

    With Neymar, Messi and Suarez they had a safe house, but now it looks like one of the three pillars is missing, and now the whole house is tumbling.

    Seri-ous business: Jean Michael Seri, centre, is a reported Barca target.

    Seri-ous business: Jean Michael Seri, centre, is a reported Barca target.

    The fact that Lionel Messi hasn’t signed his new contract is also not a good sign, and it looks like there is a lack of leadership and strategy. Surely the players are the first witness of that.

    Neymar also wasn’t happy with the choices of the board, and the atmosphere with the squad at the moment isn’t 100 per cent positive. But the players have to perform and win trophies, they can’t look back and keep moaning.

    Seri is a midfielder who has made huge progress in such a short time at Nice, but compared to Xavi, Andres Iniesta, Sergio Busquets, he is not there yet.

    That’s what happens when you buy a player from Ligue 1, you hope he will step up and learn quickly from these players. But it’s not clear for me that he has the potential to become a starter at Barcelona. The thing is, this year he should have an opportunity to do so. It’s a good time to go to Barcelona. The club is not in crisis, but this season is a turning point.

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