Manchester City and Chelsea prepare offers for Celtic 13-year-old Karamoko Dembele
Celtic teenager is the most sought-after youngster in Britain and has already played for Celtic's Under-20s team
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Your support makes all the difference.Celtic play Manchester City on Tuesday night, and Brendan Rodgers has told teenage sensation Karamoko Dembele he should dream of playing against City, rather than for them.
City are leading the chase for the 13-year-old who is already subject to a tug-of-war between England and Scotland at international level. Chelsea also want to sign Dembele, while Ajax believe that they can offer him the best development programme.
But Celtic are desperate to keep hold of their most talented prospect in a generation, who joined them three years ago at the age of 10.
Rodgers has told Dembele and his family to look to the example of Moussa Dembele, Celtic’s unrelated striker, who has impressed in the Celtic first team this season.
Celtic signed Moussa Dembele from Fulham last summer, and this season he has been a revelation in both the Scottish Premier League and Champions League for Rodgers’ side. Moussa Dembele nearly joined Tottenham Hotspur last January, only for the deal to collapse at the last moment, and was extensively watched by Arsenal and other top Premier League clubs.
But now, at the age of 20, he is playing regularly in the Champions League. He may not have done so had he joined Spurs last year, a point that has been made to the younger Dembele.
Karamoko Dembele is still a long way from first-team football, and does not even turn 14 until February. But Celtic are desperate to prove to him that he has a quick route to the first team at Parkhead, which is why they made the surprising decision to play him in an Under-20 game in October. Dembele was playing with players up to seven age-groups older than him.
The Scottish Football Association is just as keen to prove to Dembele that he can play for the first-team soon, which is why he was fast-tracked into the Scotland Under-16s in October, and made his debut in November. But Dembele was born in London and his family want to keep his options open. Last month, he trained with England Under-15s. The battle over his future at club and international level will continue next year.
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