According to the Daily Record, Zinedine Zidane has stated that he believes Moussa Dembele can hit the same heights as Ronaldo and Raul if he continues his development at Celtic for a while longer. To be spoken of in the same breath as the Real Madrid manager’s former teammates is a compliment in itself, and if the footballing legend’s prediction is correct, Celtic stand to reap the rewards.
Dembele’s breakthrough campaign occurred with Fulham last season when he scored 15 goals and made 6 assists (see below) in 37 Championship starts for the club, helping them stay in the division in the process. He attracted interest from top clubs in the Premier League including Tottenham Hotspur, with whom a deal fell through last winter. Celtic managed to swoop for the 20-year-old in the summer for a mere £500,000 in what has turned out to be an exceptionally shrewd move by both the club and the player. Celtic acquired a goal scorer whose value will doubtlessly multiply over the next few years, and Dembele found a top club where he can be the main man up front. If he had joined Spurs, for example, he would have always played second fiddle to Harry Kane.
With Celtic, Dembele is challenging at the summit of the Scottish Premiership and he is also gaining essential European experience in the Champions League. His two goals in the Hoops’ 3-3 thriller against Manchester City in Group C served only to boost the Frenchman’s reputation further. Celtic’s chances of getting out of their group are slim, with Betway Sports placing them at 33/1 to qualify after three rounds of fixtures. However, rematches against City, Barcelona, and Borussia Monchengladbach will give the former Fulham man ample opportunity to impress on the big stage yet again.
When Brendan Rodgers signed Dembele, Zidane came out and said what he thought about the signing then. In an interview with the Daily Record in July the former Galactico said he believed that the Scottish club had got their hands on one of the hottest prospects in Europe. The 44-year-old’s recent comments reinforce his belief that Dembele is on the right track.
When speaking to Sky Sports earlier in the season, Dembele’s old coaches at Fulham compared him to a young Romelu Lukaku. Kit Symons said “he needs to be pushed a bit but he could go on to emulate what Lukaku is doing now.”
Lukaku has become the star player at Everton in recent seasons and is attracting interest from the top clubs in Europe. His decision to stay there and develop further was a good one, especially when one considers his Belgian counterpart Michy Batshuayi. The former Marseille striker has barely had a look in this season for Chelsea and has been forced to watch from the side-lines as Diego Costa reaffirmed his place as the Blues’ number one striker. It may have been wiser for the 23-year-old to stay in Ligue 1 for a while longer where he could have grown into a superstar. Sitting on the bench at Stamford Bridge can only be serving to halt his development.
This is why Zidane believes that Dembele should not get ahead of himself just yet. He believes that the youngster should continue at Celtic Park for the next few years where he can become the standout star. Then when the time comes for him to move on he will go on to join a club as the first-choice attacker.
Celtic will benefit greatly from this situation. They will have a prolific goal scorer for at least two more seasons and when the time comes to sell him they are likely to earn a massive profit.