Injury or 'injury'? Dembele, Keita & the missing stars who want transfers

The last few days has seen a plethora of players who wish to leave their clubs missing training or matches, either for genuine or illegal reasons

With less than three weeks to go until the close of the European summer window, time is running out for players who want to move to complete a transfer away.

As a result, the last few days have been full of examples of high-profile stars taking matters into their own hands in order to force a transfer.

The most high-profile of all, of course, was Ousmane Dembele of . The young international is desperate to join , who have already seen a huge offer rejected for the player.

Dembele, thus, opted not to attend training on Thursday without explanation and he has been subsequently suspended indefinitely by the club. It looks unlikely that he will feature for BVB in their opener next week.

Following their world record sale of Neymar to , Barcelona are simultaneously trying to sign star Philippe Coutinho, who stunned the Premier League club on Friday by handing in a transfer request.

Coutinho missed Liverpool's first game of the new season the following day versus with a sore back and manager Jurgen Klopp says he is doubtful to play in the playoff first leg against in midweek.

Real Madrid putting sleepy Barca to shame

Arsenal's Alexis Sanchez, who wants to quit the club for Manchester City, was in the stands for the Gunners' epic 4-3 victory over Leicester with an abdominal problem. Ross Barkley (groin) looks likely to leave this summer and he was absent from the Toffees' win against Stoke, while Gylfi Sigurdsson, who has been mooted as a possible replacement for Barkley at , skipped Swansea's goalless draw at due to illness.

Virgil van Dijk, officially due to a foot injury, also missed that game. However, it is common knowledge by now that the Dutchman has been frozen out of the Southampton setup as he attempts to force a move away from the club. Manager Mauricio Pellegrino stated on Saturday that he hopes the player can be reintegrated into the squad, but a transfer, possibly to Liverpool, surely seems more likely at this stage.

Ballou Jean-Yves Tabla, an 18-year-old midfielder linked to , missed training last week amid reports he was trying to force a transfer. He later tweeted an apology.

In also there have been a few big controversies. Like Dembele, flop Geoffrey Kondogbia went AWOL, missing Friday training and the subsequent friendly win over on Saturday, as he attempts to force a transfer to .

Inside Liverpool's fight to keep Coutinho

Valencia lost 2-1 to in a friendly, a game which wing-back Leandro Spinazzola refused to travel to. The Italy international is in the middle of a two year loan spell in Bergamo from but is trying to force an early return to Turin.

Another player desperate to move to Juve is winger Balde Keita. The star, in the last year of his contract in Rome and refusing to renew, has made no secret about his desire to join the Bianconeri. Lazio opted not to include include him in the squad to face Juve in the Italian Supercup on Sunday, prompting a furious online reaction from the player.

Coming full circle back to Dortmund, Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang has also made it very clear publicly that he wishes to quit the club and rejoin his former youth side AC Milan who are refusing to match his €80 million price tag. On Saturday night, he hosted a live Q & A on his Instagram account where he admitted that he'd "love to come back, but if they [Milan] are sleeping, what can I do?"

He subsequently skipped BVB training just hours later due to a "light cold", though there are no suggestions so far this is anything other than a coincidence.

All of this part and parcel of the transfer market nowadays. While many players will miss training and matches for genuine reasons, there is no denying that others believe that the best way to force a transfer is by being less honest and causing trouble!