CELTIC LEGEND and current club ambassador Davie Hay has shot down reports and assumptions that Moussa Dembele will leave Celtic this summer.
The Frenchman has two more years left on his Celtic deal but many, including Brendan Rodgers believed the player had two years at the club before a deal taking him away from Celtic became more realistic.
Speaking last summer when Moussa was shrouded in speculation – the Irishman was cool about the whole thing but admitted 2018 might be the summer where the striker leaves.
In 2017 Rodgers said:
“I believed when Moussa came that he probably had two-year cycle. That’s what I saw.
The big clubs in Europe are always crying out for a centre forward.
“It’s just a natural process where if you’re on X amount of money and someone offers you Y amount of money, and the club get offered a ridiculous amount of money then you have to respect that.
“That’s unfortunate. I don’t like it. For me, this is a big club and we should never have to sell anyone. But because of money that is not the reality.
“If it’s the right thing to do and all parties are happy then it’s our job to make sure we’ve got the next one coming in.”
A pragmatic Rodgers letting the fans know that it may very well be out of his hands.
Many fans have accepted this also but Hay believes Moussa has more to give in a Celtic jersey and he sees the player staying, for now.
‘There has been something of an assumption in certain circles that this summer will see Moussa Dembele part ways with Celtic. The received wisdom has been that two years is long enough for him before he heads back south of the border but my own feeling is that the striker will stay at the club for another season.’ Hay wrote in his Evening Times column.
‘At the earliest, I think he would go in the January transfer window.
‘I don’t think it will even come to the kind of scenario where there is an agreement with the club to help get Celtic through these qualifications games before leaving at the very end of the window.’
Due to injury and loss of form Dembele didn’t reach the heights he’s capable of last season, although his performances towards the end were more what the Celtic fans are used to seeing.
His movement, even when he’s not scoring goals carves out chances for his side – Olivier Ntcham’s Scottish Cup Final goal a great example of that.
Of course all Celtic fans want to see him stay and we hope know big bids come in for our talisman – we need all hands on deck to get to the Champions League!
