Brighton & Hove Albion are considering a bid for Celtic forward, Moussa Dembele. According to recent sources, Chris Hughton’s men are lining up a move for the French international when the transfer window commences in January. The Brighton manager reckons that the forward will add pace to his side following a poor summer transfer window when he failed to land a number of his key attacking targets which include Tottenham Hotspur’s, Vincent Janssen.
A recent report claims that Celtic have put a £30m price-tag on Moussa Dembele and Sportsmail have suggested that the Seagulls are willing to test the water by putting in an offer of £20m in January.
It would be a club record signing if Brighton manages to pull off a deal for the 21-year-old. The Colombian winger Jose Izquierdo’s £13.5m transfer in August currently stands as the club’s most expensive signing in history. Dembele suffered a major setback last season when he tore his hamstring in the Scottish Cup semi-final but has done well for his side after coming back. The French forward has hit 8 goals and made 3 assists in 16 appearances for Celtic in this campaign so far.
The 21-year-old has scored the only goal for Celtic in their 7-1 defeat at the hands of Paris Saint-Germain in the Champions League. The former Fulham Under 18 ace wants to break into France manager Didier Deschamps’ World Cup plans after bagging a brace in 12 minutes for the French Under-21s against Slovenia last month.
The Scottish champions are under no compulsion to sell their prized asset after successfully securing a passage through to the last 32 of the Europa League by pipping Anderlecht to the third spot in their Champions League group. The Hoops’ boss Brendan Rodgers has recently confessed that they need to improve in January following a reality check against the elites of Europe in the Champions League.
He said, ‘I am pretty clear where we are at as a squad and I am also realistic about what we can bring in. The challenge here is always to push and be the very best we can be despite the resources we have. At this (Champions League) level, we are nowhere near it. But at this level, we have to find a way and try and represent Celtic and represent the nation the best we can.’
The Celtic boss continued, ‘It is very difficult. We will always rely on the collective, we will always rely on the team. There won’t be one player at this level who is a massive stand-out. Our star is the team. That is the way it will always be.’
It is no doubt that the addition of Dembele will help Brighton in leaps and bounds as they look to achieve a top half finish in the Premier League. However, it won’t be an easy task convincing Celtic to part ways with their French wonder-kid. It remains to be seen whether the Seagulls will make a concrete offer for the 21-year-old forward in January.
