Celtic replacing Moussa Dembele with Franco Di Santo would be completely underwhelming

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Celtic have been linked with a move for Franco Di Santo as Moussa Dembele continues to attract attention.

According to a recent report from the Daily Mirror, Celtic boss Brendan Rodgers is interested in Schalke striker Franco Di Santo if he has to replace Moussa Dembele in the near future.

Dembele has been brilliant during his time in the Scottish Premiership and it would hardly be a surprise if the Hoops are having to deal with plenty of interest in the Frenchman – especially during the latter stages of the January transfer window when teams are looking for solutions to striker issues within their squads.

And the Daily Mirror hinted that Rodgers is putting contingency plans in place in case Dembele does look set to move on, and that appears to involve considering a potential bid for Di Santo.

But given Dembele’s form during his time in Scotland and his potential given his age, it would surely be a hugely underwhelming move to bring the former Chelsea trainee to Parkhead as any kind of replacement.

Di Santo will be 29 years of age by the time the campaign ends, so it seems highly unlikely that he will make particularly notable improvements during the rest of his career – and it is not as if his record jumps off the page anyway.

The Argentinian has reached double figures for goals in all competitions in a single season on just one occasion throughout his career, with his next best tally seeing him score eight goals in all competitions.

For Schalke, he has scored just four league goals in over 50 Bundesliga appearances. And while that competition may be generally more competitive than the Scottish Premiership, that record surely does not suggest that he will be capable of filling the void if Dembele does end up leaving.