FC Barcelona: 5 reasons why the club has lost its identity

#1 The transfer of Ousmane Dembele (2017)

Dembele caused a training ground bust-up to force a move to Catalonia

After Dani Alves's ignominious departure, there was not much of Barcelona's famous ethos left to save. Whatever little was left was all gone when the club decided to splash out £135 million on French winger Ousmane Dembele from Borussia Dortmund.

The German club rightly accused Barcelona of acting inappropriately in their pursuit of the player. The club reportedly asked Dembele to force a move to Catalonia. The 20-year-old obliged as he refused to train with Dortmund.

CEO Hans-Joachim Watzke said:

"It is not that Ous is making fun of us, he simply declines to do his job. That is a new quality. And we should talk about the role of glorious FC Barcelona in this matter. On Wednesday [last week] we met with Barcelona’s officials. Our positions were very far away from each other. Then, on Thursday, he did not show up at the training.You don’t believe a 20-year-old will refuse to go to training without his possible new club liking that?"

They had clearly bullied the youngster and his former club. Dortmund are the undisputed kings in Europe when it comes to nurturing young talent, and then selling them for good profits. With the signing of Dembele, Barcelona have strained their relationship with the German club. They are sure to have a tough time should they look to go shopping at Dortmund once more.