Moussa Dembele has taken Scottish football by storm since making the move from Fulham in the summer. The Frenchman has been flying on all cylinders for club and country in the past few months and we Celtic fans cannot believe our luck in acquiring this young raw talent.
It was only January of last year when the players was seemingly close to a £6million move to Spurs but for a number of reasons the deal fell through. Tottenham chose not to revisit their interest this summer and went in another direction. It was also only in April when Moussa was being welcomed at Stamford Bridge as an invited guest of Chelsea to take in a game in London.
The former PSG youth recruit was in high demand with Manchester Utd, Arsenal and Napoli as well as Chelsea and Spurs all keen on taking the player. So when news broke on the 29th June that Celtic had secured the young strikers signature, I was over the moon.
Having watched many of his exploits for Fulham scoring 16 league goals in 24 starts it was clear straight away that the Frenchman was a cut above many of the forwards who have been signed in recent history. The Championship is notoriously hard and anyone who can score consistently, especially in an underperforming team has to have something about them.
Celtic, like all the clubs mentioned previously seen his potential and acted quickly when the player did not sign a new contract at Craven Cottage.
When asked about the switch to the Scottish Champions on the day he arrived he put it simple.
“I was told Celtic is a good club for me and I should get some game time.” SAID THE FRENCHMAN.
Bhoy, was that an understatement. The people a player has around him can just be vital as any talent they possess. There is no doubt that Moussa could have more money pouring into his bank weekly had he and his advisors opted on a big money Premier League move. However, this was overlooked, such is the trust in his own talent and the confidence of the people that are advising the striker signed for Celtic. A club who can help him develop, give him fantastic exposure and the opportunity to challenge for medals.
A refreshing approach by the Dembele camp, when many other players would have took cash to languish on the bench and play in bounce games behind closed doors. Instead the Frenchman is centre stage, coming up with big goals in big games and showing a touch of class as he does it.
The Man City game showed what he could do against expensive opposition, where scoring the perfect hattrick against Celtic’s Glasgow rivals certainly didn’t do any harm either. Yesterday’s match winning flick was another moment in time for the 20-year-old who lapped up the adulation and showed the passion you’d expect from someone who had been brought up as a Celt.
Yes, we are very lucky to have him here. He is one of the hottest commodities in European football and will inevitably move on and play at the peak of his powers at a top side where he will get a lot of money to play week in and week out.
In a perfect world we’d love to keep him for at least four years but that seems impossible if he keeps playing the way he does. What we do know is, when he does go, providing he’s still under contract, he will break our transfer record.
But let’s not think about that right now, let’s enjoy having this special talent at Celtic Park. He has thirteen goals so far this term, I wonder how many he’ll have by the end of the season.
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