Why Lionel Messi, Luis Suarez could force exit for Barcelona teammate

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Barcelona duo Lionel Messi and Luis Suarez are reportedly far from impressed with a certain teammate, and it’s said to be pushing him towards the exit door.

It’s been a struggle for Ousmane Dembele since he arrived in a big-money transfer from Borussia Dortmund last year.

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From his injury nightmare last season which limited his playing time to his lack of consistency this year despite scoring five goals in 11 games. The 21-year-old has yet to entirely convince that he can be an influential figure for the Catalan giants on a regular basis.

However, he could now face a fresh problem as according to Don Balon, question marks have been raised by Suarez and Messi in particular with the report claiming that Dembele has been turning up late for training, while his inability to build chemistry with the team and his generally poor attitude are causing issues.

In turn, that could ultimately lead to an exit with a January departure touted, but time will tell if Barcelona are ready to axe him after spending a whopping £135.5m on him in August last year, as per BBC Sport.

It doesn’t sound particularly promising, and with coach Ernesto Valverde starting to favour Arthur or Rafinha in midfield in order to push Philippe Coutinho further up the pitch into the attacking trident, it could lead to less and less minutes for Dembele.

There is no doubt that the French international is still struggling to adapt and fit into Barcelona’s style of play. That is still evident in terms of his tendency to give possession away and make mistakes.

With that in mind, perhaps that is the biggest issue that could see him axed, while the claims over his unprofessional attitude off the pitch are likely to speed up the process if he doesn’t have the support of the senior stalwarts such as Messi and Suarez.

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