Karamoko Dembele has been a bit of an enigma at Celtic. Praised at a very early age for his obvious skill and talent – but as he reaches the end of his first professional contract with the club – it looks as if he’ll move on with our making any kind of impact in Glasgow.
There’s no one reason for this – a lot of things have been at play over the last few years that meant game time was always going to be hard to come by for the winger.
Celtic’s lack of youth development and plans for their youngsters is a big reason behind it. However, the pressure leading up to ten in a row meant kids weren’t getting game time with so much at stake. You then look at Neil Lennon’s track record of bringing on youth players and it’s not the best.
The Athletic claim Karamoko’s time at Celtic turned sour when he approached Neil Lennon during his final season in charge of the club and told the Irishman he should be playing more.
Lennon’s response to that was to give the youngster just 11 minutes more of football that season.
The Athletic writes:
According to the report, though, Lennon didn’t take too well to having his door knocked. The Athletic report: “After Celtic’s 1-1 draw away to Kilmarnock in their second league fixture in which he was an unused sub, Dembele knocked on manager Neil Lennon’s office door and told him he believed he should be starting more games.
“Lennon did not take kindly to a 17-year-old telling him how to do his job, and Dembele only played 11 minutes more – a brief showing against Hibernian the previous month when Celtic had 12 first-team players isolation after Christopher Jullien caught COVID-19 in Dubai – before Lennon’s sacking last February.”
As CeltsAreHere understands it – there have been issues raised behind the scenes with regards to the player’s attitude in general and it’s believed Dembele’s own application is letting him down greatly.
Right now, there’s no chance of a deal being struck to keep Karamoko at Celtic – you can never say never – but as we head towards the summer – the Celtic youngster will officially become free agent.
