The Celtic academy prodigy made his Hoops first-team debut against Hearts aged just 16.
Celtic legend John Hartson has hailed Karamoko Dembele following the academy star’s impressive first-team debut for the Scottish Premiership champions in the 2-1 win over Hearts.
The 16-year-old was a half-time substitute as Neil Lennon’s charges rested players before the Scottish Cup final, with Mikey Johnston scoring twice to offset Jake Mulraney’s equaliser following Scott Bain’s error.
Dembele gained widespread media attention in 2016 after making his debut for Celtic’s Under-20s aged just 13, playing with and against players who were up to seven age groups above him.
At international level, the teenager has already played at several youth levels for both Scotland and England, even captaining the Three Lions’ Under-16s recently, and his display against Hearts has propelled him into the spotlight once again.
In his latest Glasgow Evening Times column, Hartson sought to play down the hype around Dembele – although he jokingly added “says a man with a column about him” – but at the same time admitted that such an impressive talent has proven hard to hide by the academy staff.
“I’ll be interested to see whether Dembele goes with the first team during pre-season. He has been training with them and I’m told holding his own against seasoned pros,” wrote the Welshman.
“I watched him playing for the Under-18s at Morton a few weeks ago and he was almost kicked off the park. They doubled up on him because they Morton player knew that allowing him a run at them was not the best plan of action.”
Celtic have one more game this season, the Scottish Cup final against Hearts at Hampden, so the Hoops faithful could potentially get another opportunity to see the talented youngster in action again before the summer.
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