France manager Didier Deschamps has admitted that he had no choice but to overlook Ousmane Dembele for selection last year due to his “unacceptable behaviour” while at Borussia Dortmund.
The 21-year-old went on strike at Dortmund to force a £135m move to Barcelona, which eventually went through at the end of August 2017.
Dembele’s career stuttered as a result and, not helped by injuries during his year at Camp Nou, the youngster has started just two of France’s four matches at this summer’s World Cup.
In an interview published ahead of Les Blues’ quarter-final against Uruguay on Friday, Deschamps did not hide the fact that he was disappointed by the attacker’s antics.
“It was unacceptable behaviour,” he told Sport Bild. “Dembele’s attitude caused problems at Dortmund, for his teammates and in the national team.
“I could not call up Dembele for the France squad because he was not training. It’s an attitude we can’t tolerate one of our players having.”
Dembele started 14 La Liga and Champions League matches combined for Barcelona last season, scoring four times.