THE WINGER AND THE SWINGERS: Ousmane Dembele lives near an infamous sex club, but the Barcelona star shuns the party lifestyle to play PlayStation instead
The French sensation's lifestyle choices may be under the spotlight, but Dembele lives a reclusive lifestyle playing on his PlayStation until the early hours, despite the temptation of a renowned sex club on his doorstep.
By Adrian Addison in Barcelona
IT'S NOT exactly sex, drugs and rock n' roll.
Barca's Ousmane Dembele and a handful of pals like to sit up all night playing video games or binge-watch Netflix series such as Narcos while swallowing fast food and fizzy drinks.
The old school high life of hashish and hookers, curries and cocaine - or even just cigarettes and alcohol - lived by many a football bad boy down the ages is not the the 21-year-old Frenchman's style.
And even though his exclusive pad is only a hop, squeal and a moan away from an infamous swingers sex club called Training Pedralbes, he'd rather be at home.
It's fair to say Ousmane Dembele is no Diego Maradona, on or off the pitch.
"The feeling with some here," said a source close to the Barca squad. "Is really that this guy is like a little kid lost and could blow the chance of a life time. And maybe he's just too dumb to realise it.
"Yes, it's tough and he's young and a lot is expected of him. But Messi handled it and he was literally only a teenager when he arrived. Ronaldinho and even Neymar managed it too.
"They proved they were good enough to play for Barca. Arthur has settled in without any problems, and he's just a young guy too.
"Dembele hasn't proved anything yet. He's 21 not 14. He needs to grow up and get serious.
"It's a bit frustrating because clearly he has talent but he hasn't realised it yet.
"He just seems to disappear sometimes, on and off the pitch."
Indeed. Coach Ernesto Valverde dropped his number 11 from the squad last month when he failed to show up for training, claiming gastroenteritis.
As club legend Xavi Hernandez aptly put it: "In football circles, complaining of having a ‘stomach bug’ sounds like an excuse.
"It usually means there’s something else going on."
And that was the case with Dembele. He had apparently been up all night playing video games and had forgotten to set the alarm on his phone. He slept in.
The 'mosquito', who moved to Barcelona from Borussia Dortmund for an initial £97million fee in the summer of 2017, is a very comfortable gamer.
He rents a £14,000 a month three-storey mansion on a hill with great views over the city, the house is just a short drive from the Barca training ground and just up the road from the Nou Camp.
These trips are super short dashes in his £150,000 Mercedes G-Class jeep with its blacked out windows or the black RS3 Sportback, worth about £60,000, that the club provides for free through its sponsorship deal with Audi. There is also at least one sports car in his garage.
Still, sometimes it's a struggle to get up and do that ten minute drive to the training ground in time for an 11am start. Punctuality is not the Frenchman's forte.
Neymar also lived in the same exclusive neighbourhood. And the Brazilian was known to host the occasional loud party with his entourage, especially in the days before he left Pedralbes for Paris and left his Barca shirt behind for Dembele.
But maybe it's another set of noisy neighbours that keeps Dembele from getting the good night's sleep he needs.
As we mentioned earlier, his home is a few minutes' walk from Training Pedralbes.
And while that may sound like a local gym or sports club - it's one of the most famous and exclusive swingers venues in the world.
Dozens of couples engage in orgies into the wee small hours, especially on Friday and Saturday nights, in the 5,381 square foot space that also has a swimming pool, jacuzzi and sauna.
Entry costs around £40 for a single male, £13 for a female while couples get in for about £26.
The winger hasn't been spotted there, he has been seen at the McDonalds closest to the Barca training ground.
As have plenty of other members of the squad seeking a little post training sustenance.
"We see plenty of Barca players here," said a staff member. "They don't come in and sit down to eat though, they just use the drive through and head off.
"They buy the same as anyone else, Big Mac and fries, chicken McNuggets. A soft drink. That kind of thing. So what? It's not illegal, is it?"
Dembele is said to have fired the personal chef he had at home but maybe he has had time to hire a more vital assistant - a housekeeper.
It would be a smart move. A former landlord from his Dortmund days is seeking compensation from the winger for the state he left his rented house.
"There was garbage and rubbish everywhere," the owner, Gerd Weissenberg, 71, told German paper Bild.
"There was rotten food in the fridge and the cupboards, a lot of old plastic bags on the floor. There was a pile of unpaid bills behind the front door."
Dembele also 'trashed' the house he rented off former Dortmund manager Jurgen Klopp. The German must have forgiven him though, as the Liverpool boss is said to be ready to splash out a club record £85million for the Barcelona misfit in January.
At times Ousmane Dembele simply looks out of his depth on the pitch in a Barca shirt and he has reportedly asked to leave.
He is also out of his depth as a football bad boy, Maradona first developed his cocaine habit when he played for Barca in the 1980s.
And maybe it is not too late for 'the mosquito' to save his shirt. His form has improved since being dropped, he probably had his best game so far against Villarreal on Sunday.
His attitude too - it seems - has improved and he has even, amazingly, arrived a little bit early for training.
Maybe, like a teenager being grounded for a while, getting dropped was just the jolt he needed. Or he may still yet quit in the huff, pack away his PlayStation and head to Merseyside.
THE SUN Bylined Jon Boon but written by Adrian Addison in Barcelona. Published: 4 Dec 2018
