'Dembele can't just do whatever he wants'

Ousmane Dembele has been reminded by Borussia Dortmund team-mate Sokratis Papastathopoulos that he is not bigger than the club, as the defender urged his colleague to follow the example of Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang.

Dortmund have turned down an offer from Barcelona for the French forward, who is being targeted as a replacement for Neymar.

The Bundesliga club suspended the 20-year-old last week after he missed training without permission, Dortmund head coach Peter Bosz telling a news conference the club had been unable to contact Dembele.

That ban saw Dembele sit out the 4-0 DFB-Pokal win over Rielasingen-Arlen, in which Aubameyang netted a hat-trick to become the most prolific foreign goalscorer in the club's history.

And Sokratis says the situation of Aubameyang, who has also regularly been linked with a move away, is one Dembele should look to as an example of how to behave in such a scenario.

"Ousmane is a good guy. But he has to understand that no player is bigger than the team," he told Kicker. "Everyone has to understand that he has to work for the team and fall in line. This also applies to Ousmane.

"He can't do whatever he wants and should take Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang as an example. Auba also could imagine leaving. But he behaves professionally in every training session and every game and gives his best.

"In the first round of the cup he scored three goals, Ousmane wasn't there. Ousmane has done no good by going on strike. He should not forget that he still has a long-term contract at Dortmund."

Asked whether he could see Dembele returning to the fold, Sokratis added: "At first he has to get in touch with us and come to training again. Then we will see.

"Ousmane has given us very much. He is a player who makes the difference. We need players like this.

"But we also need players who don't exclude themselves and who want to be part of our family. Apparently Ousmane doesn't want that."