Celtic's Northern Irish manager Brendan Rodgers (R) speaks to Celtic's French striker Moussa Dembele after the UEFA Champions league Group C football match between Borussia Moenchengladbach and Celtic in Moenchengladbach, western Germany on November 1, 2016. / AFP / PATRIK STOLLARZ (Photo credit should read PATRIK STOLLARZ/AFP/Getty Images)
The first Moussa Dembele transfer rumour of this window popped up today.
I was surprised at how long it took. But then, Armstrong stories have been dominant the last few weeks and the stories about how Tom Rogic would be heading for pastures new was dominating before that. Right up until the moment he and the club nailed them with a new contract.
And not for the first time I think we should kill the Dembele story stone dead by giving the same to him. The rumour mill is churning away and there’s nothing we can do to stop it except to hit it with a hammer and that’s what we should do.
We can spend the summer playing whack-a-mole, and battering this nonsense every time it pops up or we can approach this difficult situation like Alexander did with the Gordian Knot; one swift swing of the sword and it goes away entirely.
Teams will still covet him, and we’ll still get stories in the papers.
Of course we will.
Kieran never stops saying how much he loves Celtic; it doesn’t stop big clubs sending scouts to watch him and nor should it. Dembele will be the same; he’s a top footballer and that’s going to attract high level attention no matter how long a deal he’s on.
But for the next 12 months (and perhaps longer) it will give this club, and the situation, stability. It will let us keep our French Connection. It will materially improve our chances of making it to the Champions League Groups.
Every media outlet believes the big deal for Edouard means Dembele is heading out the door. I don’t. The scatter of reports that we’re offering him a new deal are music to my ears and I think Moussa would sign one. I think he’d love to be part of what’s next for us.
Today rumour has it that we’re interested in Thierry Ambrose, Manchester City’s promising young French Under 21.
That’s a market we appear keen to return to over and over again … but I wonder why we’d bother with a striker when we have three good ones already at Celtic Park? Dembele is going to be a top level player … and that’s why we need to keep him as long as we can.
