PSG opener ‘too soon’ for Dembele
Moussa Dembele is struggling to be fit for the start of Celtic’s Champions League group stage campaign against Paris Saintgermain next month.
The French under-21 international striker has been sidelined since midjuly with a hamstring injury and Celtic manager Brendan Rodgers now fears his leading scorer from last season will not recover in time for the Group B opener in Glasgow on 12 September.
“I’ m not sure whether that will be too early for him but it looks like it,” said Rodgers. “He’s progressing well but that might just come too soon. What’s important is that he gets back for the remainder of the season.”
Belgian defender de dry ck Boyata, who suffered a knee injury in pre-season, is still on course for a return to action next month.
Rodgers is seeking reinforcements for his squad ahead of the transfer window closure next Thursday night and expects the capture of South African international defender Rivaldo Coetzee to be completed this weekend.
A fee of around £850,000 has been agreed with Ajax Cape Town for the 20-yearold, who will undergo his medical in his homeland under the supervision of Celtic physiotherapist Tim Williamson before he joins
his national team for their World Cup qualifiers against Cape Verde next week.
“There’s a Fifa medical centre over there so Tim has gone over and hopefully we’ll get that over the line this weekend,” said Rodgers. “He’s a player who can come straight into our squad and play. He’s played over 20 times for South Africa, we’ve tracked him for a while now and he suits how we play.”
There has been widespread anticipation Celtic would conclude another season-long loan deal for Manchester City winger Patrick Roberts this week but Rodgers confirmed it remains in the balance.
“It is ongoing,” he said. “We always have to respect that he is not our player. He is a Manchester City player, he was involved in their squad last week. We will see. We want to be as strong as we possibly can because it’s a long season with lots of games in different competitions.”