Dortmund suspend Dembele after missed training, Barca offer rejected
Borussia Dortmund suspended forward Ousmane Dembele until next week after he missed training on Thursday, with the German club saying they had rejected an offer from Barcelona for the France international.
The 20-year-old Dembele is seen as a potential successor to Neymar at Barcelona, after the Brazilian's record 222-million euro ($260 million) move to Paris St Germain earlier this month.
German media have reported that Dembele could join Barca for more than 100 million euros but Dortmund said on Thursday an offer made by the Spanish club did not meet their valuation and a move was now unlikely.
Dembele will now miss Saturday's German Cup first round at sixth-tier club Riesalingen-Arlen
"Ousmane Dembele was missing from training (on Thursday) without excuse and obviously took such a step consciously," said Dortmund sports director Michael Zorc in a statement.
"Obviously we will be sanctioning such wrong behaviour. In addition after discussions with the coach we suspended the player from match and training action until next week and after our German Cup game on the weekend."
Dembele joined Dortmund, who will compete in the Champions League group stage, a year ago on a five-year contract.
Man City players happy with three at the back, says Kompany
Manchester City captain Vincent Kompany believes the team is comfortable with the switch to three at the back as they have quality players who are very adaptable, the centre back said.
City played with a back four in manager Pep Guardiola's debut campaign last season but switched their formation during the pre-season in July and have since won three consecutive friendlies, scoring 10 goals and conceding just one.
The same system was deployed by Chelsea manager Antonio Conte in his team's title-winning campaign last season and has since been adopted by a number of other managers, including Arsenal boss Arsene Wenger.
"We are mature players, professionals, and we just adapt," Kompany told City's website. (www.mancity.com) "I've been able to play many systems in my career and I don't want to tie myself down to a system.
"This is a good system because we've got the quality in the side to apply any system."
Manager Pep Guardiola's focus on bringing in quality wide players on either flank has been crucial to City's strategy of stretching opponents in pre-season.
Kompany singled out winger Bernardo Silva for praise.
Brighton agree club record fee for Colombia's Izquierdo
Premier League newcomers Brighton and Hove Albion are poised to break their transfer record for the third time since June after announcing they have agreed a fee for winger Jose Izquierdo from Belgian side Club Brugge.
Media reports indicated that Brighton would pay Brugge an initial 13.5 million pounds ($17.54 million) for 25-year-old Izquierdo, with adds-ons potentially taking the total value up to 16 million.
Brighton said on Thursday that the deal for the Colombia international would be a new record for the club, but did not give the exact amount.
It said Izquierdo has also agreed personal terms with the club, although the deal is subject to a medical and him getting international clearances and a work permit.
The club broke their transfer record in June when they signed Australian goalkeeper Mathew Ryan for a reported 5.2 million pounds from Valencia.
And on Monday, the club announced the signing of Dutch international Davy Propper from PSV Eindhoven for a fee reported by British media to be between 6 million and 10 million pounds.
