Ousmane Dembele ‘asks for forgiveness’ during speech to his Barcelona team-mates as Frenchman vows to improve his attitude following £90,000 fine for turning up late
- Ousmane Dembele scored a fine solo goal against Tottenham on Tuesday night
- He was in club’s bad books after turning up two hours late for training session
- Barcelona’s Dembele ‘apologised to his team-mates’ on Monday morning
- Manager Ernesto Valverde offered some words of warning to his young forward
Ousmane Dembele has begged his Barcelona team-mates for forgiveness in a private dressing room speech after being fined £90,000 for turning up two hours late to training.
Dembele was the name on everyone’s lips on Tuesday night, scoring an incredible solo goal against Tottenham in the Champions League, but it has not been all plain sailing for the youngster away from the public eye.
In fact, 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.
Ousmane Dembele has ‘apologised to Barcelona team-mates’ after turning up late on Sunday
Dembele scored a stunning solo goal against Tottenham in the Champions League this week
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 write 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 boss Ernesto Valverde offered some words of warning after the draw with Tottenham.
Dembele’s speech is said to have gone down well among his team-mates before training
Boss Ernesto Valverde offered Dembele some words of advice after his misdemeanour
‘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.’