CELTS HAVE EVERYTHING A GROWING BHOY NEEDS

Boyd urges Moussa to stay and develop in Paradise

TOM BOYD has urged Moussa Dembele to reject any potential summer suitors and realise his Champions League ambitions with Celtic.

Borussia Dortmund, Chelsea and AC Milan are all keen on Celtic’s prize asset.

Record Sport revealed the German and English giants are preparing to test Celtic’s resolve with bids for the £30million-rated hitman while the Italians want a second meeting with Dembele’s representatives.

The Frenchman hit 32 goals in 49 appearances last season. And former Celtic full-back Boyd, who now acts as a club ambassador, believes it would be in Dembele’s best interests to remain at Celtic

He said: “I would say Dembele could stay here for at least another few years. You’ve got everything here you need. Celtic are a great club and he’s only a young boy. He still needs a few years to develop.

“I don’t know where the likes of AC Milan are at the moment and who they have up front but it might be he still needs a bit of experience to fit in there.

“Would he be sitting on the bench? I don’t know.

“He is playing here, he has good competition with Leigh Griffiths and that has helped Dembele – to have someone there giving him a wee push – so I would rather he stayed here to develop.

“He still has a lot to learn as have a lot of the players, most of whom have youth on their side. You just have to look at how Brendan Rodgers has brought him on.

“It’s the right environment here to help players and although I think he will eventually go hopefully it’s not in the near future.”

The ex-Scotland defender also tipped Celtic’s six treble-winning stars to have a major impact on the outcome of Saturday’s World Cup 2018 clash against England.

Craig Gordon, Kieran Tierney, Scott Brown, Stuart Armstrong, James Forrest and Leigh Griffiths all started the 1-0 win against Slovenia in March.

Boyd said: “They’ve had a season to remember and you’d want that to rub off on the rest of the players.

“I know managers tend to stick by the tried and tested personnel but the Celtic players in the side will feel confident right now.

“Gordon Strachan will have his own ideas based on the opposition. The Celtic players are the ones he can maybe base his team around.

“I would certainly hope there will be a few Celtic players in the Scotland side come the weekend.”