Dembele prevented the arrival of his teammate Pavard to Barcelona

It was January 2023 when Barcelona coach Xavi wanted to strengthen the squad in an attempt to finally win La Liga ahead of Real Madrid for the first time since 2019 and he was looking for an attacking midfielder and right back who could also play as a central defender, since Kounde didn’t want to play there. And he had two options – Artur Melo and Benjamin Pavard. Both players ended up elsewhere, mainly due to concerns from first team players Busquets and, believe it or not – Ousmane Dembele!

Inter's biggest deal of the window - Pavard for 32,000,000

The Frenchman, who moved to PSG this season was one of the most troublesome of all Barcelona players, didn’t live up to his enormous price tag (147 million euros in 2017), and yet he had complains about his French teammate Pavard. The Barca Reservat podcast reported that Xavi was keen on signing a right back that could also play centrally, and earmarked Bayern Munich's Benjamin Pavard. He again asked his dressing room, and it is said to have been Ousmane Dembele, who argued against his arrival. Dembele reportedly told Xavi that Pavard is a player who creates issues in the dressing room, a feat Barcelona didn't need as they chased domestic success again. Xavi therefore didn't move to sign him and the Frenchman went to Inter Milan this July.

Dembele aware of his mistakes: I wasted five years of my life...

Let’s just quickly remind everybody about Dembele and his moral credentials. One incident which came to light was when the Frenchman called in sick to training half an hour after the session was due to start. A club doctor then visited Dembele's house and found several of his friends sleeping at the property around midday, while he found nothing wrong with the player's health despite his complaints of being ill. Other reports suggested Dembele would skip training after playing video games into the early hours.

The other player in question, Arthur Melo didn’t join Barcelona due to Busquets’s critique. But unlike Dembele, former captain of the Catalan team is a perfect professional who saw Melo’s behavior when he played at Camp Nou for the first time (2018-2020) and told Xavi that the Brazilian lived a disorderly lifestyle when he was at Barcelona and that he would set a poor example for the younger players. So, the players which ended up at Camp Nou are Ilkay Gundogan and Joao Cancelo.

LA LIGA - MATCHDAY 10

Friday

22.00: (1.80) Osasuna (3.70) Granada (5.00)

Saturday

15.00: (1.57) Sociedad (3.60) Mallorca (7.25)

17.15: (2.60) Getafe (3.15) Betis (3.10)

19.30: (4.10) Sevilla (3.50) Real Madrid (1.90)

22.00: (3.45) Celta (3.35) Atl.Madrid (2.15)

Sunday

15.00: (2.70) Las Palmas (3.00) Rayo Vallecano (2.90)

17.15: (1.47) Girona (4.40) Almeria (6.75)

19.30: (1.75) Villareal (3.70) Alaves (5.40)

22.00: (1.65) Barcelona (3.70) Ath.Bilbao (5.60)

Monday

22.00: (1.80) Valencia (3.60) Cadiz (5.10)

***odds are subject to change***