Why Celtic would be mad not to cash in on Dembele
THE question to Brendan Rodgers was clear and explicit: ‘Do you already have an idea of who you could bring in to replace Moussa Dembele or Kieran Tierney?’ The answer was similarly straightforward. ‘Yeah, that’s what you do,’ he replied. ‘You are having to look forward.’
In an often opaque business, Celtic are as honest as you could realistically expect about their operating model.
Selling Dembele for what will be by far a new Scottish record is a central part of it and the manager’s confirmation, offered in a wide-ranging conversation at Lennoxtown a few days ago, that plans have started for life without him should bring comfort rather than criticism.
One more decent display against Manchester City at the Etihad on Tuesday evening might be all it takes to turn the hype surrounding the 20-year-old Frenchman into something highly lucrative.
And Celtic should sell in January, providing the right kind of opportunity presents itself. They would be mad not to.
Rodgers wants to see Dembele stay for a couple of years. That’s the plan and there is evident merit for all parties in it.
However, he knows from experience just how unhinged the English market can be. He also knows from experience that desperate clubs do desperate things in the maelstrom of the January window.
The Northern Irishman did, after all, inherit a Liverpool squad that had spent £35million on Andy Carroll on deadline day in 2011 after banking £50m from selling Fernando Torres to Chelsea.
He admits himself that he lost sight of what got him to Liverpool in the first place, during a spell at Anfield in which he spent almost £300m on transfer fees, including £32.5m on Christian Benteke.
‘Sometimes, when you have got the money and everyone is chasing the big star, you get a bit sucked into thinking you have to fight for them, so you get sidetracked from the development principles,’ he confessed.
‘I am a coaching manager first and foremost and getting back to that has been the real refreshing element of the job here.’
Past experience will tell Rodgers, though, that almost anything could unfold in January should Dembele’s star continue to rise. What’s more, the rapidly improving forward seems to have a habit of showcasing his talents in front of an English audience. Two goals against City at Parkhead earlier in the Champions League campaign topped a fine individual performance. Likewise, a double for France Under-21s in a 3-2 win over England in Paris last month intensified the buzz around him.
Liverpool have scouted him intensively. Manchester United and Arsenal have also had him watched. Spurs were keen in the summer and might be keen again. Even Paris Saint-Germain, whom he left for Fulham in 2012, could contribute to any developing auction.
Celtic are eager to open up a pathway to selling directly to the leading clubs in the English Premier League, though. Chief executive Peter Lawwell admitted it in an interview published yesterday.
‘We need to make the breakthrough to the top four,’ he said. ‘The players we have brought, found and developed have all done well down there. That gets its own momentum. I don’t think it will be long before we sell into the top four.’
Of course, Celtic have made healthy profits from selling to mid-range clubs. Virgil van Dijk brought in £13m when moving to Southampton and will soon join Victor Wanyama in moving up the food chain.
Celtic will benefit from a sell-on clause but it is easy to see why they want to tap directly into the vast resources the league’s major players possess.
Dembele represents their best chance of opening that gateway to new riches hard on the heels of jacking open the Champions League treasure chest again. If the stars align and acceptable money is put on the table next month, why shouldn’t they sell and keep the good times rolling?
Europe is over. The league is tied up. Leigh Griffiths will help keep the team miles in front domestically. The funds would help accelerate Rodgers’ overall rebuild. Footballers can be affected by injury and loss of form and selling clubs should strike when the iron is hot. Artur Boruc was proof of that.
Getting a blue-chip bid for Dembele would make this a massively lucrative campaign. Having lost focus in transfer dealings whilst drifting under Ronny Deila, the board have moved the ship back in the right direction quickly.
With Rangers chairman Dave King no longer able to disguise the harsh truths unfolding across the city, Celtic must be fancied to complete Ten In A Row.
Lawwell is also well-positioned politically to react to the major change coming in European football. Barcelona’s president Josep Maria Bartomeu stating recently that he sees Celtic as an elite club that should be part of it was really quite intriguing.
It is anyone’s guess what will happen when the Champions League is reviewed at the end of the 2018-21 cycle. For the moment, though, Celtic seem pretty much future-proofed, with a manager so actively buying into the idea of developing talent to sell for profit and building a defined system of play that lends itself to players coming and going.
The sale of Dembele, when it finally happens, will simply reinforce that position. If the chance is there to get the cash in the bank right now, it would surely be hard not to take it.