Would Shane Long arrival possibly mean Moussa Dembele leaves Celtic?

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Celtic are linked with Shane Long, but would his arrival imply that a big-name departure awaits the Hoops?

It might be an example of why the transfer window is often referred to as ‘silly season’, but Celtic have been linked Shane Long recently.

According to the print edition of The Sun on Sunday [26/08, p61], Celtic are plotting a loan move for the Southampton striker.

It seems very unlikely that it will materialise, because the Scottish Premiership side already have three excellent strikers in Odsonne Edouard, Moussa Dembele and Leigh Griffiths.

If – and it seems a big if – it’s true that Celtic want Long then surely Brendan Rodgers expects to lose a striker.

It won’t be Edouard, who only joined the Hoops for a club-record fee this summer, and it probably won’t be Griffiths, who hasn’t been linked to anyone.

That means it will in all likelyhood be Dembele who departs, with La Provence reporting last week that Marseille were keen on the French hitman.

At this stage of the window, losing Dembele would be a major shock, and a major blow, but stranger things have happened and the truth is that Rodgers wouldn’t be going after the Republic of Ireland international if he did not anticipate a departure.

Celtic fans might be excited about the prospect of signing Long, because the 31-year-old is an established Premier League-quality forward, but the implications of getting him aren’t exciting at all.