Manchester United target Moussa Dembele will go to the very top, says Celtic boss Brendan Rodgers
On the developing issue of striker Moussa Dembele’s future, Celtic’s attitude remains one of realism.
No-one within the confines of Lennoxtown is driving the prodigiously-talented Frenchman to the airport any time soon. Nor is there any indication that either the youngster or his representative are angling for a move. Far from it, in fact.
But no individual with a reasonable grasp on reality is anticipating the 20-year-old racking up seven years of sterling service like Henrik Larsson, let alone following the lead of a one-club man like Paul McStay. Basic economics sees to that.
Celtic star Moussa Dembele will break the Scottish transfer record, Brendan Rodgers believes
The only outstanding questions surrounding his departure are: When? For how much? And to where?
Despite Manchester United’s growing interest, Brendan Rodgers believes a January departure is highly unlikely.
Whether Dembele moves on next summer or in either of the subsequent two transfer windows, a contract with Celtic until 2020 will unquestionably see the record £12.5million fee Southampton paid for Victor Wanyama in 2013 being blown out of the water. Twenty million seems a distinct possibility but even that could prove a conservative estimate.
The most intriguing part of the puzzle remains his eventual destination. Celtic’s reputation as a stepping stone to the English Premier League is well established, but recent activity suggests a lingering sense of skepticism at the top of that division as to the quality of player the Parkhead club develops.
In recent times, Wanyama, Virgil van Dijk and Fraser Forster had to first prove themselves at St Mary’s before being linked with bigger and better things. Gary Hooper could fare no better than struggling Norwich City while Ki Sung-yeung landed at Swansea.
These moves were financially rewarding for all parties. But, in a footballing sense, they were a few degrees below Kenny Dalglish’s move to Liverpool or Larsson’s switch to Barcelona.
In Dembele’s case, Rodgers also believes there will be no need for a stepping stone. The striker, he is certain, will one day move to the upper-echelons of the European game with one stroke of his pen.
‘The kid still needs time,’ said the Celtic boss. ‘I think everyone wants to get him in and then sell him off. If he leaves here - at whatever point that will be - it will be for a record transfer fee, there is no question about that.
‘I have worked with players who have gone for a lot of money. Raheem Sterling went for £49m and he was a winger. Luis (Suarez) went for the money that he went for (£65m). He was an international player and, after two years, he left a world-class player. So this kiddie has the potential in value.
‘Celtic won’t have to worry about players going for £10m any more.
‘The price tag will be whatever. It is not for me to speculate about that. But the kid is clearly one of the great potential strikers in the world.
‘He has shown it at a really big level now and there is still a long way for him to go. He is one who we hope we can have here to continue his development.’
Manchester United have already sent scouts to watch the young Dembele play
As much as Celtic’s coffers have been swollen considerably in recent times by a string of eight-figure sales, there is still a lingering sense that buying clubs look upon them as easy prey.
Rodgers gets the fact that a player is only worth what another club is prepared to pay for them.
At the same time, though, he fails to see why any fee should be dictated by the environment a player happens to inhabit.
‘Absolutely, because it’s about the potential,’ he added.
‘Look at Wanyama. People were unsure. He goes to Southampton, a mid-table Premier League team. He was a really good player when he was here.
‘He goes to Southampton then he jumps to Tottenham. They don’t need that springboard anymore.
‘With all due respect,I’ve worked with big players, I know the value of big players, I know the value of young players. If they’re working here, they’re in the best environment they could be in.
‘We might not have the Premier League propaganda and the money that goes with that, but they’re still top players. If he (Dembele) leaves here, he can go to the big level. So there’s a value and a market for that.’
Rodgers’ honestly might grate a little with those fans hoping against hope that Dembele might yet see out the bulk of his contract in Glasgow. But he sees little point in talking down what’s increasingly evident to the watching world.
Sixteen goals in Celtic’s colours already this season were enough to alert every scout in the land.
Accordingly, two goals for France Under 21s against England made no appreciable difference to how Dembele’s manager sees the situation unfolding.
Rodgers is being realistic and concedes it is only a matter of time before big money bids start coming in for the Frenchman
‘When I came in, my ambition was always, one, for the club,’ he said. ‘So I think it’s great recognition for the club. And the ambition is also for the player to make him be the best he can be. When I was looking at his performance (against England) it was a great run and finish, one of the ones that really impressed me.
‘You talk about his movement. The one where the England back four were on the edge of the box and he makes a great little “come short” and spin. He gets in behind and chests it and swivels on it. He should maybe get his finish on it. Those are movements we’ve talked about with him. We have seen Suarez do it, when he scored against us for Barcelona, that little movement on the edge of the box where he takes it deep in the box. He chested it, swivelled and finished it.
‘So my initial reaction is about performance. Is he improving? Can he work harder? Can he press better?
‘Now obviously we have got a challenge because he has scored a free-kick. So now we’ve got to think: “Who is going to take the free-kicks?” He could have had four goals.’
The dream scenario at Celtic is the classic bidding war. With Manchester United already getting their feet under the table, it’s entirely possible that others – Bayern Munich, Barcelona or even Real Madrid as suggested by Scott Sinclair this week – could soon join them.
Such club tend to deal in telephone numbers rather than transfer fees. And they don’t like missing out to each other.
For Celtic, the obvious disappointment at eventually losing the player could have enormous compensations.
‘They’re a premium at those clubs as well,’ Rodgers said. ‘I sensed it when I was at Liverpool.
‘Trying to get a player that might be worth £10m somewhere else becomes £20m when you’re at that type of club. But, listen, he’s only been here five months. He’s a huge talent, we know that.
‘There’s a lot of work for him still to do to improve. His people know that, he knows that, and that’s the beauty of him. He’s a very mature kid. He wants to learn.
‘He wants to be the best he can be. Where he is in four years’ time, we’ll have to wait and see, but at this moment in time, his best place - as he has seen himself - is here, learning and developing and being coached and being prepared if he moves on later.’
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