Barcelona star Dembele being sued by ex-landlord over late rent and damaged flat

Ousmane Dembele is being sued for €20,000 by his former landlord over unpaid rent and the state in which he left his apartment.

The 21-year-old has had a difficult year since leaving Borussia Dortmund for Barcelona in 2017, but he has become the subject of controversy in Germany once again.

His former landlord claims the France international owes €15,000 worth of rent and is demanding a further €5,000 in compensation to repair damage done to the home.

Dembele is said to have damaged the floors and left rubbish and clothes throughout the flat, as pictures published by Bild showed. Furthermore, the ex-Rennes star did not give back the keys to the property, meaning the locks had to be changed after his departure.
It has taken longer than expected to begin the lawsuit because Dembele's current address was unknown, leading to the notice being sent directly to Barcelona.

"Mr Dembele is charged by his former landlord to pay €15,000 rent plus €5.000 compensation," a spokesman for the local court in Dortmund told SID. " That is the cost to repair some damages: Broken shutters, damaged floors, for example. The garbage which is mentioned in the report [from Bild] is explicitly not part of this proceeding."


Now that Dembele has been notified of the lawsuit, he has a limited time to respond.

"The receiver now has two to three weeks to respond to these claims," the spokesman told Der Western. "If he doesn't there will be a default judgement."

It is the latest issue facing the attacker, who has been the subject of headlines already in recent weeks.