Celts deny £20m bid for Dembele

WEST Ham appear to have hinted they have made a £20 million offer for Celtic striker Moussa Dembele.

An article on the Hammers’ official website stated “a bid of £20m — a figure close to the club’s all-time transfer record — was submitted for a player from Scotland”.

However, Celtic say they had received no official bid for Dembele.

Hammers manager Slaven Bilic earlier refused to comment on reports that Dembele was one of his main January targets but had discussed his interest in Brentford striker Scott Hogan and Sunderland forward Jermaine Defoe moments earlier at a media conference.

The website article, a regular feature called “The Insider”, added an £8 million bid had been made for a Championship player and a £6m offer was issued for a Premier League player.

The so-called opinion piece comes with a qualification that the views are not necessarily those of the club but the Hammers appear to be serious about tempting Celtic to part with their prized asset.

Dembele has scored 19 goals in 36 games since arriving from Fulham in a four-year deal in the summer for a development fee of about £500,000. The 20-year-old further cemented his hero status among the club’s support by netting his fifth goal against Rangers in Celtic’s 2-1 win at Ibrox on Saturday.

Celtic boss Brendan Rodgers is keen to add to his squad ahead of another European campaign and Celtic are working on finalising a £2.8 million move for 19-year-old Ivorian midfielder Kouassi Eboue from FC Krasnodar.

West Ham are reportedly interested in Moussa Dembele.