According to reports down south Tottenham think they have the edge in the race for Moussa Dembele.
However, at this point, we’re not even convinced there’s a race to be run.
Reports last week that Chelsea scouts were still circling the Celtic sensation while the likes of PSG and even Real Madrid watch from a respectful distance it appears Spurs think they will land the French striker this summer.
The amount of money being banded about is £30million but I’d take any mention of a fee that high with a pinch of salt. The fee is as fictitious as Chelsea’s last minute bid in the January window. It’s a number that continues to get banded about in the media, and well, Celtic would be rude to stop them from hyping up their star striker for a price most fans will agree is over inflated.
Spurs have the money and the ambition to land the player, there is no doubting that. However, Moussa has shown that money is not his ultimate motivator. The Celtic striker has put first team football as his number one priority and while he knows there is a lot of interest in him, he’s not keen on moving anywhere that will see him drop to the bench and stifle is progress.
This is where things break down for most Premier League sides who soak up all the young talent on ridiculous amounts of money. They are comfortable paying over £20million for a player then sitting him in the stands all season until the manager sees fit to use them.
Tottenham famously lost out on Moussa Dembele a couple of seasons back when a fee of around £6million was agreed to take the player from Fulham to White hart lane. The deal subsequently broke down and Celtic picked up the pieces last summer when Rodgers signed the prolific striker.
My head tells me there’s a good chance he might leave this summer if an offer of first team football is firmly on the table but my heart says we will have Moussa for at least one more season before moving on.
Nobody has an edge when it comes to Moussa’s signature and the only one that currently matters is the one on his Celtic contract.
