Borussia Dortmund Suspends Ousmane Dembele Indefinitely as Barcelona Move Looms

Borussia

Borussia Dortmund have suspended Ousmane Dembele indefinitely ahead of his potential move to Barcelona.

The France international was one of Dortmund's best players last season as they finished third in the Bundesliga, scoring six goals and contributing a further 12 assists in 32 league appearances.

Stellungnahme: @Dembouz bleibt suspendiert. https://t.co/C3G9jg8WKM pic.twitter.com/1YOyjSZ8mh

— Borussia Dortmund (@BVB) August 13, 2017

With Neymar recently leaving Barcelona to join French giants Paris Saint-Germain in a deal worth £200m, the Catalan giants are in the market for a replacement and have identified former Rennes winger Dembele as a potential signing.

Dembele was initially temporarily suspended, but the club's director Michael Zorc has confirmed the sanction has been made indefinite, telling Dortmund's website: 

"Our focus now is on a concentrated preparation of the team for the Bundesliga opening match in Wolfsburg this coming weekend.

"Ousmane Dembele, of course, has the opportunity to do individual training off the track."

Christof Koepsel/GettyImages

Dembele missed Dortmund's DFB-Pokal match against Rielasingen-Arlen as Maximilian Philipp and Andre Schurrle played on the wings, with Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang netting a hat-trick after Marc Bartra opened the scoring.

Barcelona's season starts on Sunday with the first leg of the Supercopa de Espana against Real Madrid at the Nou Camp, but will be eager to bring in Neymar's replacement before the end of the transfer window.

While Dembele has been strongly linked with a move to Barca, Liverpool midfielder Philippe Coutinho is also said to be interesting Ernesto Valverde's side and has reportedly handed in a transfer request.

The Brazil international is currently sidelined with a back injury and missed Liverpool's 3-3 draw at Watford on Saturday.