John Hartson is convinced that Moussa Dembele will eventually leave Celtic but that the club shouldn’t let him go just yet.
The former Hoop shared that he believed the 21-year-old should not leave in the January transfer window due to Celtic not needing to sell the player for financial reasons.
“Celtic don’t need the money, the Champions League has made sure of that,” said Hartson, as quoted by the Scottish Sun.
“So financially there is no hurry for them to sell Dembele.
“He is going to go eventually, everyone knows that, it’s just a case of when.”
The Daily Mail previously reported that the Bhoys believed Dembele was worth £30million, while the Scottish Sun reported that Everton, Stoke City, Brighton and Crystal Palace wanted to sign him.
Aside from not needing the money, Hartson shared that with Leigh Griffiths out injured and Brendan Rodgers’ other attacking option being Odsonne Edouard then Dembele is needed for Celtic’s Europa League clashes against Zenit St Petersburg in February.
“It’s not the worst thing in the world for Celtic to keep Dembele right now,” stated Hartson.
“If Celtic can get a positive result at Parkhead in the first leg (against Zenit) and keep a clean sheet they will give themselves a real chance of going through.
“And having Dembele around for those games would certainly be an added bonus for Celtic because he is a quality striker, pure and simple.”
Rodgers confirmed when talking to Sky Sports, Griffiths was unlikely to be available for the first-leg against Zenit St Peterburg after injuring his calf in the 1-0 victory over Hibernian.
OPINION
Griffiths’ injury certainly makes Dembele an even more important player, and the club must keep him beyond January. The only way that situation will change is if Celtic suddenly sign an amazing striker before Wednesday, but that doesn’t look like happening. The Bhoys are very much on course to win their 10th league title in the row as they are currently 11 points clear at the top of the Scottish Premier League. However, Rodgers is no doubt aware that he will be judged on the Hoops’ Europa League campaign in the second half of the season. After yet another disappointing Champions League campaign which saw them suffer embarrassing defeats to Bayern Munich and Paris Saint Germain, the Bhoys really need to start making a positive impact in European competitions.