Alan Brazil: I'm shocked this Celtic first teamer is still at the club
By Richard Parks
Alan Brazil has expressed his surprise to the Scottish Sun that Celtic striker Moussa Dembele is still at the club this month.
Manager Brendan Rodgers admitted there was strong interest in the Frenchman, 21, during the January transfer window and that the Hoops rejected one official bid that did not match their value of the player.
Dembele was strongly linked to a move to the Premier League, with Brighton and West Ham among those said to be keen to prise him from Parkhead, while one report in France stated that Chelsea tabled a £40million bid for him on deadline day.
Boyhood Celtic fan and talkSPORT broadcaster Brazil is a big admirer of Dembele and is shocked that an English top flight club did not prise him away before the January cut-off.
“If I had been an English Premier League manager — maybe from tenth place down — I would definitely have looked at Dembele in January,” the former Scotland striker said in an interview with the Scottish Sun.
“When it’s so close at the bottom, the difference between staying up and going down could be finding a goalscorer. Think how much money that is for the three clubs who do go down. I would absolutely have taken a chance on Dembele.
“He is young, he is powerful and he just needs a run of games again for Celtic. He is only going to improve and get better.
“For the sake of something in the region of £15million-£20m, I’d have taken a chance on him in the transfer window.”
Dembele announced himself on the Scottish scene with a brilliant debut season after joining from Fulham on a virtual free transfer, scoring 32 goals in a success-drenched campaign.
He has scored nine times in an injury-interrupted second season from 24 matches, but his recent strike against Hearts was his first since November.
In other Celtic news, it can be revealed that a key first teamer has sensationally asked to leave after the board failed to stick to their promise of giving him a new deal during the transfer window.
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