Celtic captain urges Moussa Dembele to remain at Parkhead

Celtic captain Scott Brown feels Moussa Dembele will get even better following an excellent debut season at Parkhead last term.


The 21-year-old joined the Hoops from Fulham on a free last summer, and it had been predicted that he could struggle to adapt to the new environment. However, he came up with flying colours during the campaign and ended the season as the club's highest scorer with 32 goals in just 39 outings.

His form has already captured attention of several Premier League clubs as well as Marseille, and Brown has praised the Frenchman for his excellent progress under Brendan Rodgers, he said: "For him to score a hat-trick in a Rangers v Celtic match in his first season and going from there to what he is now, he is a top quality player and underneath this manager he is going to get better. We have a great manager and, if he stays here, he will definitely improve. I am sure the gaffer wants everyone to stay here, so here's hoping everyone does stay. It is a great bunch of lads in the dressing room and we are just going to get stronger the longer we stay together."

Celtic beat Northern Irish club Linfield by a comfortable 6-0 aggregate scoreline in the Champions League second qualifying round, and they now face a trickier tie against Norwegian club Rosenborg, who will be dependent on Nicklas Bendtner to get them the goals. Dembele had to sit out training with a hamstring injury, and Rodgers could be forced to utilise Tom Rogic as a makeshift striker with Leigh Griffiths also facing a one-match ban for provoking spectators in their European outing against Linfield in Belfast.

Dembele had initially attracted Premier League interest back in January 2016 when Tottenham Hotspur had tried to negotiate a deal with Fulham. However, Spurs were not keen on loaning Dembele back to Craven Cottage for the season, and this eventually saw him join Celtic on a Bosman last summer - for a mere compensation fee of £500,000.

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