Borussia Dortmund ace misses training amid Barcelona interest

Borussia Dortmund head coach Peter Bosz has sensationally revealed Ousmane Dembele did not turn up to training on Thursday and could not be reached by phone amid interest from Barcelona.

The La Liga giants have earmarked the signing of Dembele as a top priority this summer in the wake of Neymar’s £193m departure to Paris Saint-Germain and appear to be closing in on the France international.

Dembele only reiterated his desire to win more trophies with Dortmund at the start of the month but appears to have made a u-turn after failing to show for pre-season training.

“Dembele didn’t show up for training today,” The Daily Mirror quote Bosz as telling local reporters. “We don’t know where he is. We couldn’t reach him today.”

The 20-year-old only joined Dortmund for €15m (£13.5m) 12 months ago but Barcelona will reportedly have to pay in excess of £100m in order to land the France international, which would make him the second most expensive player of all-time.

Dembele completed more dribbles (103) than any other player aged under 21 in Europe’s top five leagues last season.