How Ousmane Dembele apologised to the Barcelona dressing room

Ousmane Dembele seems willing to work on his wayward behaviour. His latest act of indiscipline on Sunday (arriving two hours late for training) set off alarm bells at the club. But the tellings off (in public and private) from his teammates and his manager, plus the fine (reportedly around 200,000 euros) has forced him to reconsider his ways. 

So much so that on Monday, before the training session ahead of the Champions League game against Tottenham, Dembele decided to apologise to his teammates in the dressing room. SPORT have learned that the Frenchman called all the players together before training and said sorry. He also promised that it will not happen again. 

Dembele's speech was short, but respectful. And his teammates appreciated it, decided to turn the page and leave everything that's gone before in the past. Carles Aleña, after the Tottenham game, said: "He apologised to the dressing room. We accepted it. He knows he's done wrong. He's a good kid, we're with him until the end. We have to show him affection." 

Dembele started against Tottenham and scored a golazo. It was the latest sign of an extraordinary player that only needs support to understand that you also have to be professional off the pitch. Valverde and the club have decided that dialogue will turn things around and it seems to be giving results.