Interim Celtic boss Neil Lennon has lavished praise on youngster Karamoko Dembele following his Hoops debut on Sunday.
The 16-year-old came on to replace Oliver Burke at the start of the second half, as a brace from fellow youngster Michael Johnston helped the Bhoys record a 2-1 win in their final Scottish Premiership game of the season.
Speaking to BBC Sport, Lennon said that he had “no hesitation” about giving Dembele game time.
“He is the type of player that you want at Celtic,” the manager said. “He gets the crowd off their feet with his football intelligence. Obviously we need to keep a lid on it, but it’s great that the fans have seen the glimpse of the future.
“The kid is 16 and we just want to develop him in the right way. He has been training with the first team and I had no hesitation giving him 45 minutes.”
OPINION
Yesterday was the perfect opportunity for Dembele to show Lennon what he is all about. While it was a dead rubber in terms of the result’s bearing on the league – with Celtic having already wrapped up another such title – the interim Hoops boss would have warned his players to go out and perform well. Especially since the last dead rubber game against Rangers ended in scathing criticism. And, boy, did Dembele take his chance. He was magnificent in the second half and definitely showed that he has the potential to become a real talent. On the flipside, Lennon will not be getting too overawed over Dembele’s performance. He is only 16 and has a lot of growing to do, both physically and as a player. But he may get some minutes in pre-season, and there is definitely the chance that if he sticks around and continues to take his chance when he gets it, he could become a real player.