Ousmane, it's nothing personal, it's just business

Moussa Sissoko rules Ousmane Dembele’s life, managing his movements in his career. In a strange type of modern football slavery, what the player wants counts for nothing and Ousmane must obey without question, because the one who holds the pen rules.

Either that’s how it is, or Dembele has lied to Xavi, Planes and Mateu Alemany, as well as Joan Laporta and anyone who has asked him if he was planning on staying at Camp Nou. The French forward has always said he doesn’t want to move, that finishing his contract and leaving for free was not in his plans. Either Dembele has not been telling the truth or he is subject to Sissoko governing his sporting life.

Now Sissoko is starting to show his cards and the answer to the question is clear: the agent and player are working together and this is their strategy. It will allow Dembele to sign with whomever he pleases and get a huge sign-on fee and a contract that does not correspond to his performance at Barcelona. 

What Dembele and his agent cannot do is lie and ask for respect from a club that they have never shown any to. It’s not a threat, as Sissoko said, sending him to the stands, it’s simply an option to manage the first team’s sporting resources, looking for the best alternative to an irritating situation. Barcelona can do what they like with him while they pay him, in the same way Ousmane and Mousssa decided to do the best for them without caring at all about the problems of a club that have generously paid him and still are. Mr. Sissoko, it’s nothing personal, it’s just business.