Though he was often the butt of jokes amongst the Liverpool fans in the Transfer Tavern, the arrival of Brendan Rodgers as Celtic manager has seemingly sparked the Bhoys into life.
Amongst the Hoops propping up the bar in the Tavern, the Northern Irishman is a hugely popular figure after bringing with him a much-needed energy after two rather stagnant years under Ronny Deila.
One of the major success stories of his has been the capture of Moussa Dembele over the course of the summer, with the Frenchman proving prolific in both the SPFL and the Champions League.
In fact, the 20-year-old has already secured his place in Celtic folklore by becoming the first player to notch a league hat-trick against bitter rivals Rangers in 50 years.
Still, his form for the Scottish champions has reportedly attracted the attention of Manchester United, who have been linked with a move for the former Fulham forward.
While the SPFL titans have little hope of matching teams such as United in a financial sense, Rodgers has told the Alan Brazil Sports Breakfast on talkSPORT he’s hopeful of keeping Dembele at Parkhead.
While he’s candid about the fact a move may happen further on down the line, he remains determined to keep his star man for as long as he can.
“Him and his agent, they want to learn and they want to develop”, he said.
”They could have gone to a number of clubs in the summer and got way, way more money than up here. But he wants to try and do it the right way.
“He wants to get experiences at a big club, learn, develop and then there probably will be a time when he will move on.”
”In fairness to him, he has been absolutely fantastic. But he signed a four-year deal here and he is only a few months into it.
“We are all realistic here. That was part of my role coming into here, accepting that if you have got top talents they may be here for a couple of years and move on. You have seen it with Wanyama, with Van Dijk and Ki.”
How long can Celtic really hope to keep Dembele? Let us know below…
