Valverde clears up his plans with Dembele's comeback date
The Barça coach won't rush him back to action in the Clasico
Dembele's back in training and keen to return as soon as possible
As much as Ousmane Dembele wants to return to action, Ernesto Valverde insists he is happy to wait for the French international.
Dembele is back in training and will step things up in the next week but the Barça coach says he won't rush him back for the Clasico against Real Madrid next weekend.
“[Dembele’s] been doing a lot more with the group this week, but he hasn’t completed a full training session yet,” Valverde said on Saturday.
“Next week we will increase his work load, but the plan is same as before. January is when we hope he will come back.
“It would be premature, risky, even, to bring him back [early]. Our idea at the moment is to leave it until January.”
Dembele is not in the squad for Barça's game against Deportivo La Coruna on Sunday, but Andres Iniesta and Javier Mascherano are back.
