Chelsea will not be pursing a move for Celtic mainstay Moussa Dembele in January despite previous interest in him, according to the Evening Standard.
The newspaper claims that the Blues have cooled interest in the 21-year-old striker and Antonio Side’s will be chasing alternative targets to bolster their attack.
It is understood that the reigning Premier League champions have monitored him since 2012 and made an enquiry for him 12 months ago, but they were put off by his £40million valuation at the time.
The report details that Chelsea are not set to reignite their interest with a bid for Celtic’s in-demand centre-forward in the current transfer window.
The Sun have reported that Premier League teams Stoke, West Ham and Everton are currently keen on landing Dembele in the New Year.
It is also explained that Brighton are also interested in the Frenchman and are lining up a £20million offer.
Good move for Celtic?
Chelsea dropping out of the race for Dembele could be seen as a negative as there would certainly be more money to be made with the big spenders in the race.
However, there is still enough Premier League interest to see the highly-rated striker leave Parkhead for a huge transfer fee of £20million-plus.
Dembele has scored eight goals in 21 games and some Celtic fans have become resigned to the fact that he will be leaving the Scottish league in January.
This Is Futbol rating: 4/10
Likely to happen?
Dembele still looks likely to leave Brendan Rodgers’ side despite Chelsea seemingly ending their interest.
Celtic have plenty of forward options in their squad and losing Dembele could turn out to be good for them if they receive a large windfall of cash in return.
This Is Futbol rating: 6/10