Last night, Moussa Dembele cut a forlorn figure as he came off the pitch.
This is a guy who’s rolled backwards at frightening speed. Those who are putting it down to him having “chucked it” would do well to consider that he’s not the only player not performing right now. He’s also a victim of a playing system that most teams have got well figured out.
Moussa has perhaps the toughest choice to make this summer that I can think of.
He has to consider how best he serves his own future, in the here and now, but with that eye ever on the distant horizon. I wonder if perhaps the psychological shock of how bad we are in Europe hasn’t hit him harder than anyone in the team.
The idea of Celtic was sold to him as a showcase for his talents on the European stage. Last season, he shone in the Groups, especially against City. This season’s campaign started with a humiliating hammering that must have made him wonder if any progress had been made at all. It’s all well and good being on that stage, but if what people are watching is you as part of a team being turned over, well that’s probably not great.
Does Moussa still believe this club is the best place to show the world what he can do?
That’s the question he has to be asking, and there’s an obvious answer; of course it is.
Moussa cannot leave Celtic in the summer from what’s effectively a standing start.
If he does he will end up at a club like Brighton, at best.
He does not look up to the standard of playing for a top tier team right now whether on esports.net or real life, and that’s where he was hoping to go from here.
A mid-table battler or team which will soon find itself in a relegation dog fight is no use to this guy. He would have to hit the ground running at a club like that, and surrounded by journeymen and in a scrap for credibility rather than honours I genuinely believe he’d be wasted.
Moussa needs to refocus and rediscover his form. At the moment no major club in England will want him and no lesser club will want to pay big money for him. That’s bad for Moussa and it’s bad for us if he forces the sale; we’ll get much less for him than we would if he was on form and banging the goals into the back of the net again.
His best bet is to stay for another year at least, to taste Champions League football again if possible, and to see what pans out. Right now he looks like a player who’s gone backwards, and no top tier team is going to take a chance on one of those.
Moussa, like others at Celtic Park, needs to find his spark again.
The best way to do it is to commit to the next campaign … and make it the best of his career.
Join the best Celtic Facebook Group there is right here.
Like our Facebook page and comment on and share the articles by clicking here.
You can also follow us on Twitter at @The_Celtic_Blog