Barcelona and Uruguay forward Luis Suarez, on Monday, cautioned his teammate Ousmane Dembele to be more responsible with claims of indiscipline on his part emerging. The latter recently dominated headlines when he reportedly faked illness after missing Barcelona's training session.
According to reports, the Frenchman was involved in a video gaming marathon with his friends at his residence but failed to keep track of the time and ended up over-sleeping. The player then purportedly alerted his club's medical staff to a stomach issue and was subsequently omitted from the squad that was dealt a shock defeat at Camp Nou by Real Betis prior to the international break.
With Barcelona uncovering the truth as reported by Spanish publication AS, the Catalans were said to be alarmed by the recurrent nature of Dembele's irresponsible behavior as the incident was not the first of its kind. While the club is putting measures in place to help the 21-year-old prodigy, Luis Suarez insists that the former Borussia Dortmund ace must adopt a more professional attitude.
"Ousmane knows that football is a privilege for every player, maybe he should concentrate more and be more responsible regarding certain things," the Uruguay striker told a media conference ahead of his country's friendly encounter with France at the Stade de France on Tuesday.
"There are examples of professionalism at Barca that he can draw inspiration from. He'll continue to learn, with that self-confidence that will enable him to succeed at Barcelona."
While Luis Suarez may not be a saint either, the controversies surrounding the former Liverpool and Ajax forward has diminished immensely in recent years. The 29-year-old was previously sanctioned for biting players on a few instances, stopping a goal-bound attempt from entering the net against Ghana in the 2010 FIFA World Cup and also for racially abusing Patrice Evra in a Liverpool-Manchester United clash back in 2011, among others.
