The Hoops striker has been on Arsenal’s radar in recent times.
Celtic’s Moussa Dembele
Celtic’s majority shareholder Dermot Desmond has suggested that interest in Moussa Dembele should be viewed as a good thing for the Hoops, but insisted that they are hopeful of keeping the forward, The Scottish Sun reports.
The Scottish Sun has reported that the 20-year-old is on Arsenal’s radar, and the Gunners sent scouts to watch the striker during the Bhoys’ recent Champions League clash with Manchester City.
Dembele is reportedly on Arsenal’s radar
But while Desmond has insisted that Celtic will not be looking to cash in on the former Fulham man, he explained why he is pleased to see that the club’s players are attracting attention from elsewhere.
“We don’t need to sell any players,” he said, as reported by The Scottish Sun.
“Hopefully we can retain him but again our job is to have players that are wanted by other clubs in the Premier League and elsewhere.
“That will be an indication of the quality of footballers that we have.”
As Desmond hinted, it is unlikely that Arsenal would take enough of an interest to send scouts to watch Dembele if the Frenchman was not doing a lot of good things at Parkhead.
But Dembele has begun his Hoops career with 12 goals in his first 17 games in all competitions. And while the hat-trick against Rangers will probably be deemed to be the highlight so far, the brace against City in Europe would have perhaps been what made Arsenal take the most notice.
And if he maintains his current strike-rate in the coming months as he settles in further, it seems likely that Celtic will face an even tougher battle trying to keep hold of him. But that is clearly a battle that Desmond is hoping for.
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