Ousmane Dembele ‘did what he had to do’ to secure his move to Barcelona and has explained this is why he missed Borussia Dortmund training.
The 20-year-old was criticised by teammates for not attending training sessions in the midst of the Blaugrana negotiating for his transfer earlier this month.
“I was calm about the situation, it was not in my hands but Barca and Borussia just needed to negotiate," Dembele told Diario Sport.
“I understood I needed to have patience but I didn't want to go training…my head was not in the right place, I looked for an excuse not to go.
“If it had not have worked out and I had not done my part to get the move to Barca, now I would be regretting what I did not do so I did what I had to do.
“Why did I chose Dortmund last year? I wanted to learn, play Champions League football, discover what that competition was, to play a whole season with a big team, playing regularly and developing.
“I would have learned a lot in training but it would have halted my progression. Luckily Barcelona have come back for a second time and this time I could not let the train pass.
“Messi? He’s not from this world. He always plays at a sublime level. He's the best player in history.”
