Ntcham confident he can provide perfect passes for Dembele
OLIVIER NTCHAM can recall when Celtic’s goalscoring monster Moussa Dembele was a spindly teenager, whose slight frame proved no barrier to burgling goals through the age levels with France.
Now reunited as Parkhead powerhouses, Ntcham is confident he can once again provide the perfect passes for Dembele to pick apart defences.
Ntcham joined from Manchester City for £4.5million last week, becoming the most expensive Celtic recruit since Scott Brown was captured from Hibernian a decade ago.
Dembele was a bargain £400,000 development-fee signing last summer before going on to net 32 goals in a stunning first season that saw his market value rocket.
They have taken different routes to link up in Scotland, but one constant through their years has been teaming up for the national team from the ages of 14.
That’s where Ntcham initially saw the slender Dembele feasting on goals before marvelling at his development into one of Europe’s most soughtafter young strikers.
Ntcham said: ‘Before, when I knew him and we played together in the same team, he was a little bit skinny — seriously! You remember he was a skinny boy. But that was never a problem. He always scored. Always.
‘He was a striker who, in every game or two, he would score. Even if he didn’t play so good, for scoring he was always top class.
‘I always hoped that he would go on to play for some of the best clubs.
‘Before, he was just a striker who scored goals. Of course, you need to improve in the game. And every season Moussa has been progressing. So it is no surprise to see how well he has been doing in his career so far. ‘I always felt that we had a good understanding because we always played together. I would provide him with the assists for the goals. That’s the worth I bring. ‘You have to ask him the question if he will stay around at Celtic for more years. But, for me, yes I hope that he does.’ Ntcham did not feature for City’s first team but did play senior Serie A football for Genoa, making 41 appearances in two loan spells in Italy over the last two seasons. The 21-year-old, who moved to England from French side Le Havre, retains a desire to make the major breakthrough south of the border. But first, like so many with that aspiration, he has designs on making rapid improvement while winning medals and playing in the Champions League for Celtic. When asked if he had ambitions to play in the Premier League, he replied: ‘Yes, but first I have to be concentrated totally on playing in Scotland. On playing in the league here and then afterwards we will see. ‘I don’t know much about the Scottish game, I watched just one game last year. I saw Celtic keep the ball very well, so I wasn’t really able to see how the other team played. ‘Dedryck Boyata and Patrick Roberts have done well for Celtic after coming up here from Manchester City. I hope that I can do the same.’