RENEWAL OF AN AULD ALLIANCE
Forrest relishing chance to take on former team-mate Dembele, a meeting that will bring back happy memories
IT was at a training camp on the outskirts of Maribor that the excitement started to build among the Celtic squad. Already energised by the training methods of new manager Brendan Rodgers, word spread within the squad that the club was on the verge of pulling off a significant transfer coup.
Moussa Dembele had earned rave reviews for his line-leading performances for Fulham in the Championship and had been expected to make a multi-million pound move to England’s top league.
Instead, Celtic stole a march on the competition by exploiting a cross-border loophole that allowed them to acquire the 19-year-old for a nominal development fee of around £500,000.
Two years later and the Scottish champions would sell Dembele for 40 times that sum.
The anticipation may not be quite on the same level but a reunion is on the cards this week as Celtic break out of lockdown and head to
Lyon. The French club have invited Celtic, Rangers and Nice to a four-team ‘tournament’ that will sensibly keep the Glasgow clubs apart during two double-headers on Thursday and next Saturday.
For Neil Lennon’s team, that means a Saturday-night meeting with a former Parkhead hero.
And for winger James Forrest, the opportunity to meet with Dembele conjures memories of a happy time in his Celtic career.
‘Everybody will be buzzing to see him,’ said Forrest. ‘Most of the boys here played with Moussa and he has kept in touch.
‘We’ve had a really tight, close squad for the last few years and it’s the same with a few others who have left. They keep in touch and are always welcome.
‘Moussa came over when we got the league trophy last year and joined us in the dressing room after the match.’
Forrest has pretty vivid memories of that summer four years ago, when Dembele arrived midway through the training camp and immediately raised the standard.
Within a matter of weeks, the French striker was slotting home his first goal for the club, a coolly converted last-minute penalty winner that beat Astana in the Champions League qualifiers.
By mid-September he had the stadium in raptures with a perfect hat-trick that destroyed Rangers in a 5-1 victory that set the tone for the dominance established by the club until now.
‘I remember hearing we were going to sign Moussa and being impressed,’ recalled Forrest. ‘We benefited from that transfer rule because if he had stayed in England, he would have cost a lot of money.
‘The club managed to get a deal done and we were excited. We had all seen him playing before and a couple of lads in the Scotland squad had also played with or against him when he was at Fulham. We all knew he was highly rated and it lifts everyone when you find a player of that quality is signing for you.
‘As a winger, he was a great forward to play with. He’d make good runs and give you something to hit but, more than that, he would also win us games on his own.
‘He stepped up brilliantly in European games and has continued all of that since moving to Lyon.’
Since Forrest himself debuted as a Celtic player in 2010, a host of young players have followed the Dembele formula of developing at Parkhead before moving on to a richer environment.
Yet while Virgil van Dijk, Victor Wanyama, Stuart Armstrong and even academy graduate Kieran Tierney all went south of the border for big sums, Forrest has shown not even a hint of wishing to leave.
He was closest to moving on in that same summer when Dembele checked in. As the squad adjusted to new methods, Forrest was in the final months of a contract that, unusually, was due to expire midway through season 2016-17.
Rodgers challenged the winger, who had finally set aside years of muscular problems, to add consistency to his undoubted talents. A new contract followed and the chance to explore a new adventure receded. A home lover with no detectable ego, he has never regretted the decision to stay.
He contends that while he loves seeing his former team-mates go on to star elsewhere, he never gets jealous of those who have moved.
‘I don’t, no,’ he insisted. ‘If you ask any of the boys, we are all buzzing for any player who goes on to play with another team and does well.
‘When a player goes to a Premier League team or, like Moussa, goes abroad, we are all hoping he does well because it looks good for Celtic.
‘It shows that we have a standard of player who can improve the top teams in Europe.’
Celtic were never likely to hang on to Dembele for too long and the
fear among their fans must be that Odsonne Edouard decides to follow a similar path this summer. The team’s star player and crowned during lockdown as Forrest’s successor as the Football Writers’ Player of the Year, Edouard has already lasted a season longer than his compatriot did at Celtic and there are no obvious signs that he is itching to move.
Manager Lennon has commenced talks with the forward around improving his contract and keeping him on the books at least for the tilt at a 10th consecutive title.
‘Everyone at the club, especially the players, want Odsonne to stay for another few years if possible,’ declared Forrest. ‘We’re with him every day, we see what he does in training and we want to keep him with us.
‘Maybe in a few years he’ll decide to go somewhere else but he is a big talent. It was class to see him getting the writers’ award and it was thoroughly deserved. But I think he’ll be buzzing he didn’t need to go up there and give a speech.
‘I think his would be on a par with mine, maybe even better to be fair! He is just so quiet and chilled.’
This week’s Veolia Trophy will be contested at Lyon’s Groupama Stadium and will serve as a dry run for all concerned ahead of what will be a strange start to the domestic season in both countries.
While it’s expected that a small number of local spectators will be allowed in for the matches, hygiene and social-distancing protocols will be prevalent.
Rangers will fly home after facing Nice next weekend, but Celtic will remain on French soil and travel to Paris where they will face Paris Saint-Germain, the club that produced Dembele and Edouard from its youth system.
Forrest reckons the experience
Moussa was great to play with. He led the line brilliantly and would also win us games on his own
will make Celtic match and environment ready ahead of the August 1 league kick-off, which will take place without any kind of crowd. ‘Playing behind closed doors will be strange,’ admitted Forrest. ‘None of us have done this before. Even in pre-season, no matter where we go in Europe or wherever, the Celtic fans always manage to turn up. ‘There might be a few people in the stadium but it’s going to be a strange experience. ‘However, it will be good to get a feel for that before the league starts. I have watched some of the games on the television but it will be important to experience it for ourselves.
‘I’m sure the manager will talk to us about that later, give us advice on how to cope because I think it will be strange.
‘I’m relaxed enough about travelling. From day one, we have had a very safe environment.
‘It has been strict, everything has been done properly and it has been a success.’
Forrest turned 29 last week and, as per normal, there was limited scope to celebrate his birthday as the team stepped up its training work at Loughborough University’s Elite Athlete Centre.
Now approaching his fourth decade, he is safely one of the more seasoned heads at the club but retains an outlook to match his still youthful features.
‘We’re always away for pre-season on my birthday, so I’m used to that but I did get a cake, so that was nice,’ he added.
‘I think I’m now the second-oldest player here. The likes of Jonny Hayes and Craig Gordon have gone, so that’s moved me up the list.
‘I have played football for a long time but I don’t see myself as an experienced player. I don’t feel 29, put it that way!’
‘MAYBE IN A FEW YEARS ODSONNE WILL DECIDE TO GO SOMEWHERE ELSE BUT HE IS A BIG TALENT AND WE WANT HIM TO HANG AROUND FOR A GOOD WHILE LONGER IF POSSIBLE’