Podcaster Patrick McGilp believes that Karamoko Dembele should be given his chance when Celtic return to Scottish Premiership on Wednesday night.
Dembele is just 19 years old and has been labelled as ‘special‘ by former boss Neil Lennon, but has yet to feature under Ange Postocoglou this season after he suffered an ankle injury in pre-season and had to undergo surgery.
He was an unused substitute against Dundee last month and then was on the bench again on Sunday against Hibernian, but was once again not called upon.
McGilp spoke on the A Celtic State of Mind YouTube channel, discussing whether a lack of striking options could hand Dembele an opportunity, with Kyogo Furuhashi out and Giorgos Giakoumakis a doubt for the game against St. Mirren.
He said: “Abada isn’t a bad option [as a striker] by any stretch, but if you don’t play Abada, you’re looking at one of Forrest, Ben Doak or Karamoko. I’d quite like to see Karamoko play, in fairness.”
TIF Thoughts on Karamoko Dembele…
Dembele, who is valued at £225k (as per Transfermarkt), caught the attention of many when he featured for Celtic Under-20s at the young age of just 13.
He has been training with the first team and featured for the Celtic B team in a recent 4-0 victory over Vale of Leithen, and B team boss Tommy McIntyre said: “He’s been training really well. The first team have been telling me that he’s been training really well with them, so he just really needs game time.”
McGilp has claimed that he wants to see Dembele in action, but it may be too soon for the winger. Due to his size and position on the wing, he may be more susceptible to getting kicked more often than the average player, so if he was to receive a heavy challenge on the same ankle, he could see another lengthy period on the sidelines.
Perhaps this is why he hasn’t quite been selected by Postecoglou in recent weeks despite his return to fitness – but his first-team comeback is surely not too far away.