Strasbourg defender Ismail Doukouré has been sent to train with the club’s youngsters after Chelsea transfer talks collapsed.
That’s [according to L’Equipe](https://www.lequipe.fr/Football/Actualites/Ismael-doukoure-ecarte-du-groupe-pro-a-strasbourg-apres-son-refus-de-prolonger-son-contrat/1584622), who cover the player today and how he has been ‘invited to train’ with the reserve team after refusing to extend his contract, which expires in a year.
According to the newspaper, despite having participated normally in Strasbourg’s pre-season schedule the 22-year-old has been invited to train with the reserve team ahead of the start of Ligue 1.
He is not injured and has not been punished for inappropriate behaviour, but Strasbourg’s choice is to do with his contractual situation.
His current deal expires in a year, and he has so far rejected a contract proposal from Strasbourg. Negotiations with Chelsea, also owned by BlueCo, have also collapsed and failed to be successful.
The indication is that the French club had hoped to use Chelsea, and the close link between the two sides, as a temptation to convince Doukouré to stay.
That hasn’t worked and it seems they’ve now turned to putting pressure on him by excluding him from the group and sending him to train with the kids. Whether that works, remains to be seen.