Ousmane Dembele will miss Paris-Saint Germain’s Champions League trip to Arsenal on Tuesday night after falling out with manager Luis Enrique in a major boost for the Gunners.
The 27-year-old allegedly clashed with Enrique in the wake of PSG’s Ligue 1 win over Rennes on Friday after being substituted during the fixture.
Dembele has been a pivotal figure in helping the French giants fill the goalscoring gap left by Kylian Mbappe’s departure to Real Madrid in June, scoring four times in six league games. Mbappe struck 44 goals in 48 matches last season.
In explaining why Dembele is not in the squad, Enrique said: ‘If someone doesn’t comply or respect the expectations of the team, it means they are not prepared to play.
‘The match tomorrow is very important and I want all my players to be ready, so as a consequence I have left him (Dembele) out. I want the best for my team and that is my job.
‘I have the support of the club’s president and the sporting director. I am here to create a team and in the future that might include Ousmane Dembele, just to be clear.
‘There are no problems between us (him and Dembele). That is completely false. This is simply about the responsibilities of the player.’
It leaves Bradley Barcola taking the main responsibility to threaten Mikel Arteta’s side.
Barcola is in red-hot form, having scored six goals in six Ligue 1 matches this season — two of those strikes coming against Rennes.
In Dembele's absence, 22-year-old Bradley Barcola will be the main threat for PSG
The 22-year-old forward is widely regarded as one of the world’s most-promising young attacking talents.
Another name in contention to shine is Warren Zaire-Emery. The 18-year-old midfielder made his professional debut for PSG in August 2022, becoming the club's youngest-ever starter.
In his debut season, aged 16, he became the youngest player in Champions League history to start a knockout phase match.