A parting shot from Dembele

MOUSSA DEMBELE last night fired a bitter parting blast at Celtic, sneering they’d caved in to let him join Lyon.

The striker was paraded by the French giants yesterday after his £20million deadline-day move.

And he used the occasion to slate the Hoops hierarchy, accusing them of making up excuses in a failed bid to stop the transfer happening.

The row took a new twist last night when his former Parkhead pal Olivier Ntcham appeared to show his support for his countryman.

Arriving at Lyon, Dembele insisted he had worked hard to engineer his transfer, adding: “I wanted to come to Lyon. But Celtic needed a replacement – well, at least that was the excuse that they gave. We tried to find a solution but failed.

“But I was determined to come so let my leaders know. In the end, they gave in. It was hard. I gave everything and it paid off.”

The Frenchman’s blast fuels his row with Rodgers, who he accused on Twitter last week of going back on his word to let him go.

Celtic had insisted they would only sell Dembele if they were able to sign an adequate replacement.

In response, Dembele tweeted: “A man, without his word, is nothing. A real man keeps his word.”

The row came to a head when the hitman left training early on Friday – and within hours the club announced his departure.

Celtic midfielder Ntcham last night tweeted saying: “Great respect to my guy Dembele – good luck. Only real men do the real things.”

He edited his tweet within minutes, removing the controversial “real men” phrase.