EXIT STRATEGY
Dembele won’t rule out move from Celtic in January
MOUSSA DEMBELE last night refused to rule out a January move from Celtic.
Hampered by injuries this season, the French striker has yet to hit the heights that saw him strongly linked with Chelsea and Manchester United earlier this year.
However, as Sportsmail recently revealed, Brighton are weighing up a £20million bid for the 21-year-old next month as they seek to cement their Premier League status in the second half of the campaign.
Fiorentina became the latest continental club to be linked with the player over the weekend. And Dembele did little to fend off suggestions he will be moving on in the January transfer window when asked if remaining in Glasgow until the summer was his plan.
‘I can say it is part of the plan but the plan can change,’ he said.
‘As long as I am here I will give 100 per cent but I don’t know until when. I just focus on my football and give my best for the club and we will see.’
The fact Odsonne Edouard has recently emerged as competition for Dembele and Leigh Griffiths offers Brendan Rodgers a degree of comfort in the event that the
ex-Fulham player moves on. Scorer of an 11-minute hat-trick for France Under-21s last month, Dembele appreciates that the opening of the transfer window will inevitably lead to fevered speculation about his future. ‘For me, every day I will be coming into training,’ he shrugged. ‘I don’t look at the media or what people are saying about me. I just focus on myself and as long as I am here I will be giving 100 per cent and we will see what will happen in the future. For now, I am here.’ Asked if the talk of a move to Chelsea last season was difficult to handle, he replied: ‘No, not really. That was the case when I was in France, too, so I have been used to it. I just get my head down and work. ‘I have my agent and my family who take care of that and I focus on my football. You have to focus on what you are good at it and what I am good at is playing football and scoring goals.’ The eight goals Dembele has scored this season, exactly one quarter of the total he hit last term, reflect a campaign disrupted by hamstring issues and a recent ankle injury. ‘It’s not really been frustrating,’ he insisted. ‘Injuries are part of football. Don’t be a footballer if you don’t want to be injured. ‘You don’t want to be injured but sometimes you are. You have to work hard to make sure you come back fit and strong and that’s what I’ve done. So there is no frustration. ‘It is difficult to watch the games from the stand. You imagine yourself on the pitch and what you would be doing if you were. ‘You are never 100-per-cent fit. Ask any player — you might be in good shape but you are never 100-per-cent fit. For me, I feel good and I know I can play two or three games in a row and that is good.’ Meanwhile, RB Leipzig boss Ralph Hasenhuttl has insisted he won’t allow Marvin Compper to leave in January because of the club’s mounting injury problems. Celtic boss Rodgers wants to shore up his defence by signing the 32-year-old German. Leipzig had previously been receptive to allowing Compper to leave next month because of a lack of game time. But they have been struggling with injuries and were forced to use Compper for 45 minutes in their weekend draw with Mainz. Now Hasenhuttl has told Compper he will have to wait until the summer to leave the club. ‘I don’t want to get rid of any player in January,’ he said. ‘It’s a squad game and we need them all, especially as we have had a lot of injuries recently. ‘Also, Marvin has never come to me and said he’s unhappy or put in a transfer request. So he will be here until the summer at least.’