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Time to Focus on Moussa Dembele
It is official: Celtic have been crowned Scottish Premiership champions for the sixth year in a row. Brendan Rodgers’ men thrashed Hearts 5-0 to secure another Scottish title with eight league games remaining and attention will now turn to the future of talented youngster Moussa Dembele.
Dembele is one of Europe’s hottest young prospects and he is only going to get better as he gains more experience. At just 20 years old, he has the potential to blossom into one of the best players on the planet and the likes of Barcelona, Chelsea and Bayern Munich have been linked with a move for the Celtic star this summer.
Rodgers’ side have shown that they can cope without Dembele but the young Frenchman gives the Bhoys an added spark and keeping him at Celtic Park has to be the number one priority ahead of the summer. Tying him down to an extended deal will at least give Celtic an opportunity to introduce a release clause that will guarantee big money should Dembele push for a move elsewhere.
However, many believe that Dembele will stay for at least more one season – and his latest revelation on Twitter would support that. In the aftermath of Celtic’s victory at Hearts, the 20-year-old stated his joy at their title triumph and claimed that there is more to come in the future.
One more season in Scotland won’t hurt his chances of playing at one of the best clubs in Europe; in fact, it should cement his spot as one of the top young talents in the sport. Celtic will be able to demand a colossal transfer fee if he continues to develop.
On a personal level, Dembele will now attempt to finish as the Scottish Premiership top goalscorer for the current campaign. As of April 3rd, he is in direct competition with teammate Scott Sinclair for the Golden Boot award but Dembele will be confident of pipping him in the bid for individual recognition.
Currently priced at 4/5 in bet365’s football betting odds, the Frenchman is one goal behind Sinclair’s tally of 18 but he still has eight matches to hit the back of the net. Dembele missed Celtic's win at Hearts but he should be back in the near future and goals could be on the cards.
Dembele has scored 32 goals in 46 appearances in all competitions this season; a stunning statistic to say the least. According to BBC Sport, he scores one goal every 108 minutes in the league and has fired 62% of his shots on target – a much better rate than Sinclair. Incredibly, he has bagged three hat-tricks this campaign whilst netting five braces. When he brings his A-game, he is pretty much unstoppable.
We’re not going to label Dembele as the next Lionel Messi but he is certainly gifted and you won’t find many Celtic fans who want him to move on. On his day, the 20-year-old can win matches more or less on his own and his unique game-changing ability is what stands him tall above his peers. Keeping Dembele at Celtic Park for at least one more year is an absolute must.