Bayern Munich president Uli Hoeness has endorsed Borussia Dortmund's tough stance on Barcelona target Ousmane Dembele.
The 20-year-old forward has been suspended until further notice by BVB after skipping a training session without permission.
His unauthorised absence came after Barca had a bid rejected for the France international, who has been earmarked by the Liga powerhouse to replace Neymar following the Brazil star's world-record €222million transfer to Paris Saint-Germain this month.
It remains to be seen if Dembele will succeed in forcing through a switch to Camp Nou, Liverpool having also taken a hard-line approach to Barca's interest in Philippe Coutinho.
Hoeness, though, praised Bayern's Bundesliga rivals for standing firm, tipping Dembele to return to the fold and produce his best should the transfer window close without a deal being completed.
Official statement: to remain suspended August 13, 2017
"If a player does not show up at a training session, that is only his responsibility," he said during an appearance on a Sky television program.
"You should not treat players like gods, if they do not behave like gods.
"Borussia Dortmund acted very cleverly and calmly in this situation.
"If you are a big club, which Borussia Dortmund is, you have to show strength from time to time: 'Either we get what we want, or the player has to stay'.
"[The] 31st of August will arrive soon and until then they can let him train on another pitch.
"And if he does not move, he will give full throttle from September 1st on, since he does not want his value to decrease."
Dembele scored six goals in 32 Bundesliga appearances last season, having moved to Signal Iduna Park from Rennes in July 2016.
