Celtic youngster Karamoko Dembele has recently returned to full training, The Herald report.

The Lowdown: Ankle issues

Labelled as ‘special’ by former boss Neil Lennon, Dembele is still yet to make a competitive appearance under Ange Postecoglou.

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Dembele, who will turn 19 later this month, injured his ankle in pre-season and underwent surgery back in October after complications in his initial recovery.

Kieran Devlin even suggested prior to the New Year that the youngster may have broken a bone in his ankle despite initial reports suggesting that it may not be quite that bad.

The Latest: Back in training

The Herald’s Graeme McGarry relayed comments from Postecoglou regarding Dembele on Friday.

January signing Yosuke Ideguchi may return this afternoon against Raith Rovers following his own ankle issue, and when it came to Dembele, the Celtic boss said that he has been training well and is close to a return.

“He’s been training well.

“He’s been out for quite a long time. We might get him some game time in the B team to start with. We’ll see how he’s tracking.

“He’s training at the moment and getting close to being available.”

The Verdict: Big few months

Dembele is actually out of contract at Parkhead in the summer, so the next few months are likely to be key in regards to his future.

Should he catch Postecoglou’s eye in training and in a few games for the B team, that may lead the Hoops boss to encourage the club’s hierarchy to open talks over a new deal.

However, Dembele has played just eight times since his senior debut back in the 2018/19 campaign, and with Postecoglou already having plenty of wide options, it may be almost a formality at this point that the youngster moves on. Only time will tell.

In other news: BBC pundit thinks Celtic are speaking with 'fantastic' ace behind the scenes.