Fans notice Ousmane Dembele's bizarre Twitter activity

Barcelona's Ousmane Dembele has fierce competition for his place in the starting XI following the arrival of Malcom from Bordeaux.

Dembele, who is the club's second all-time most expensive acquisition, is unhappy that his place is under threat, according to Sport.

The 21-year-old endured a very difficult first season with injury and a lack of form inhibiting his debut campaign.

And now fans have noticed that he has been liking tweets which condemn him in some unusual social media activity.

He liked a tweet which called him a 'flop' while he also liked ones which told him to go back to training.

Dembele has not returned to pre-season training as he is still on his break following France's World Cup victory on July 15.

The Frenchman also liked a tweet which said he did not have a 'good attitude'.

One Twitter user wrote: 'Dembele liking hatred tweets of barca fans against him... he is clearly finding a way out!'

Another said: 'Ousmane Dembele is liking tweets of people criticising his choice to take a vacation instead of going to the preseason.

'There are also tweets comparing his attitude to Neymar and saying that Malcom will take his place.'

Barcelona paid €70million for Dembele last summer in the first instalment of his potentially eye-watering €145m final fee. They then paid a further €35m at the start of July.

The remaining €40m is payable in instalments and according to the games the French winger plays. The sum of €20m will be paid in four payments of €5m for each time he plays 25 matches in La Liga.

The remaining €20m is tied to his Champions League participation. Every season he competes in the competition they will receive €5m up to €10m in total. And every time he wins the competition they will also pay a further €5m – again a maximum of two times.