Barça failed to do their homework on Dembele
11 years ago, in 2007, Txiki Begiristain wanted to sign Karim Benzema for FC Barcelona. He travelled to Lyon and spoke with the player, who was just 20 at the time, and his representative. There was no questioning his footballing ability; he was a great footballer who over the years would get even better but something didn't quite add up. So a few months later he returned to Lyon and wanted to get to know Benzema better, his family and close friends. He then made up his mind not to sign the player. Txiki saw Karim as an immature youngster with a complicated set of friends who weren't helping him either.
With Ousmane Dembele the club should have done something similar.
When you're spending over 100 million euros on a player you need to know the very basics about him off the pitch. The club believed, erroneously, that having Eric Abidal there would help keep Dembele on the right path. However the winger hasn't adapted, remains disconnected from the group and shows a distinct lack of professionalism. Barça can't allow anyone to behave this way. The demanded level has to be the maximum and those who are unable to reach that know where the door is.
