Premier League giants Chelsea are lining up an offer for Celtic’s 16-year-old starlet Karamoko Dembele, according to a report by 90min.com.
The outlet claims that the Blues are ready to test the Bhoys’ resolve and make an offer for the youngster in the upcoming January transfer window. Chelsea are believed to have many links in Scotland that allowed them to sign Islam Feruz from Celtic and Billy Gilmour from Rangers.
The report also states that while the Champions League club are under a transfer ban currently, they are set to appeal that to the Court of Arbitration on the 20th of November. This could see their ban get lifted for the upcoming January transfer window.
Already popular in Glasgow
The 16-year-old appears to have already become a popular star in the Scottish capital, as Christopher Jullien recently described him as a “phenomenon” in an interview with RMC Sport. One of the many Dembele’s who are lighting up the game, Karamoko has not featured for the first-team so far this season.
However, last season, he did make an appearance for the Bhoys. He came on from the bench in the club’s 2-1 win over Hearts towards the end of the season in what was his first appearance for the club in the Scottish Premiership. Neil Lennon had hailed the teenager’s performance as “a glimpse of the future”, suggesting he is highly-rated at Celtic Park (BBC).
He has represented the junior sides of both England and Scotland. He played for the Under-16s English side, scoring three times in 11 appearances. For the Scotland Under-16s, he has scored once and has played eight times.
TIF Tactics
There is no doubt that Dembele still has some way to go before potentially breaking into Lennon’s first team in the near future, with the likes of Marian Shved, James Forrest, Mohamed Elyounoussi and Jonny Hayes likely to be all before him in the pecking order (TransferMarkt).
Indeed, the manager did hand him his debut last season, so there is always the possibility that he could get some more action this season, whilst it would appear to be rather unlikely that he’d be involved in Frank Lampard’s Chelsea side any time soon – despite the Blues’ boss desire to play youngsters.
Whilst Gilmour appears to be making the transition into the Premier League side’s first-team, Dembele only has to look at former Bhoy Feruz to know how things can change and that the grass isn’t always greener at a club south of the border.