By Tim Stannard

Agent denies rumors of airport bench sleepover as former chef points at unprofessional life from Dembele

It's Dump-on-Dembele day in Barcelona with the local press gleefully taking potshots at the stricken French forward who is out for five weeks with a hamstring injury. 

It is the footballer's seventh issue in two years that has seen the player miss 44 games - that's according to a grumbling Sport anyway.

The player's former chef, Mickael Naya, told Le Parisien that "he's a good kid...but he doesn't have a professional structure around him." It's an accusation that has been aimed at Dembele ever since the player's hugely expensive arrival from Borussia Dortmund. 

On top of this, Dembele's agent had to deny a report from Tuesday that the footballer had slept on an airport bench on Friday in Bilbao to travel to Senegal for the weekend, claiming that the footballer had only gone to France. 

However, Dembele did report to training on Monday with his hamstring issue that currently leaves Barcelona without Luis Suarez and potentially Leo Messi who is still on the road to recovery. 

Time for the required Neymar update. 

The Brazilian is still a PSG player. The latest reports claim that PSG have agreed in principle to offer the footballer on loan to Barcelona for a season with a confirmed sale next summer. However, that valuation differs by a good $100 million. So nothing is happening anytime soon.

The Sports Burst live show will reluctantly pour over this and so much more live on our beIN SPORTS USA Facebook page at 12PM ET / 9AM PT. 

Fiorentina land Franck Ribery in two year deal 

Perhaps one of the transfer coups of the summer has been achieved by Serie A side, Fiorentina who have snagged Franck Ribery for free with the 36-year-old currently out of contract. Ribery arrived in Florence on Tuesday and is set to sign a two-year deal. 

Roma have also been busy by snapping up Chelsea fullback Davide Zappacosta who is moving on a season-long loan. Meanwhile, Roma striker Patrick Schick is edging towards RB Leipzig and are looking at the forgotten man of forgotten men at Real Madrid, Mariano Diaz, as a replacement. 

On Tuesday, Mauro Icardi was reportedly happy to stay at Inter - not that the footballer had too much choice in the matter. A day later and the Italian press has the footballer moving to Napoli in an $70 million deal. 

The new Serie A season gets underway on Saturday with Juventus at Parma. 

A Brazilian battle in Copa Libertadores quarters 

A very tasty evening indeed is upon us in the Copa Libertadores. 

South America's supreme club competition has reached the quarterfinal stages and is offering up two tantalizing encounters today.

The round kicked off on Tuesday night with Palmeiras getting a 1-0 win in the first leg at fellow Brazilian side, Gremio. An absolute belter from Gustavo Scarpa did the business for the visitors who, in traditional style, also saw Felipe Melo sent off. 
 

First up today and Boca Juniors are away at Ecuadorian outfit LDU Quito. That is followed by an epic all-Brazilian affair with Flamengo taking on Internacional in the first leg of their clash. All the action gets underway from 6PM ET / 3PM PT. 

A little further north on the continent and the joint MLS - MLX competition - the Leagues Cup - reached the semifinal stages. Tigres defeated Club America on penalties in one tie whilst a scrubs-heavy LA Galaxy were defeated by Cruz Azul to set up an all-Mexican final. Which is how these tournaments tend to end up anyway.