Arsenal legend and Sky Sports pundit Thierry Henry has insisted it is time for Moussa Dembele to leave Celtic and play in ‘a big league.’
Star striker Dembele has been linked with a move away from Parkhead in January, and several Premier League clubs have been part of the reported chase.
Brighton have been the one club most heavily linked with a bid for Dembele, but as reported by the The Sun, Stoke have also entered the chase for the 21-year-old.
Dembele has 40 goals in 70 appearances for the Hoops since his free transfer from Fulham in the summer of 2016, and French compatriot Henry believes it is time for him to move from Glasgow.
Speaking to Sky Sports, as quoted by the Scottish Sun, Henry made a thinly-veiled dig at Scottish football and said: “He can play, he can score, it might be time for him to play in a big league.
“He has all the attributes. I’m just really surprised it’s only Brighton showing interest.”
OPINION
Henry will have ruffled a few Scottish feathers with his comments that double up as a jibe at the quality of the Premiership. However, he is probably right in saying that Dembele needs to leave Celtic to fulfil his potential, as the 21-year-old seems to have stagnated recently at Parkhead. The young striker has aspirations to play for France, and while he has earned a call-up from Didier Deschamps, he is yet to earn his first cap for Les Bleus. With all of the other French strikers playing in one of Europe’s top-five leagues, Dembele also needs to be playing at that level for his aspirations to come true.