Moussa’s move, back to the Willo Flood window

CELTIC fans face an anxious few days waiting to see if star striker Moussa Dembele is sold before Friday and the closing of the transfer window. This particular transfer window makes the infamous Willo Flood Window look like a roaring success!

This morning we reported that French sides Marseille and Lyon were interested in signing the highly rate French Under 21 striker this week. Now German side Borussia Dortmund as joined the race, while Moussa Dembele missed training and a pre-match team meeting at Lennoxtown as he and his advisors were at Celtic Park meeting the club to discuss these events and the way forward.

As we mentioned this morning, if the bidding goes over the £20million mark, then it is going to be really hard for Celtic to walk away from that kind of money.

Dembele, inside the penultimate year of his contract would have to either agree a contract extension or be sold within the next 12 months and Celtic would fear a reduction in the potential transfer value as time marches on.

Brendan Rodgers, who has had to endure a torrid time over the past few weeks, is in no doubt that Moussa Dembele is the real deal.

“He’s a phenomenal talent. He’s not going to be here forever,” Brendan admitted.

“Like a lot of the European boys, they develop at a great club and look to move on.”

Of course Celtic’s shock elimination from the Champions League removes a huge incentive for players like Dembele to want to stay at Celtic and other talented players to perhaps consider a move to the East End of Glasgow. Others will be sitting waiting that we have at least got ourselves past Suduva and into the Europa League.

If we fail in that it’s hard to imagine anyone – perhaps other than the aforementioned Willo Flood – who would fancy the move in these circumstances!

The Celtic manager was back to beating the drum about having replacements in place to come in if players are leaving. For Boyata a few weeks back, it’s Moussa now. Both players were likely departures this summer. Moussa has had transfer speculation surrounding him during his entire time at Celtic and Boyata last for his summer adventures with the new contract offer sitting on Peter Lawwell’s desk, unsigned.

“We don’t want to lose a top-class player without having a replacement,” Brendan said today.

“There hasn’t been an official bid as far as I am aware but there’s interest. He is available for the game (against FK Suduva tomorrow evening) but I will speak to him later on.

“It’s the ‘What-if?’ scenario. You always have to be prepared for that. That’s natural. It’s not an ideal situation, with a few days to go.

“It’s one where we hope to ensure by the end of the window we are strong. We are looking for players to come in and freshen up the squad and also fit in to what we are doing.

“There’s a lot of work going on behind the scenes to try and improve the squad.”

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About Author

The Celtic Star founder and editor, who has edited numerous Celtic books over the past decade or so including several from Lisbon Lions, Willie Wallace, Tommy Gemmell and Jim Craig. Earliest Celtic memories include a win over East Fife at Celtic Park and the 4-1 League Cup loss to Partick Thistle as a 6 year old. Best game? Easy 4-2, 1979 when Ten Men Won the League. Email editor@thecelticstar.co.uk

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