Do Moussa Dembele’s comments put pressure on Celtic to solve Leigh Griffiths issue?

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Liverpool target Moussa Dembele has hinted that he could look to leave Scottish Premiership champions Celtic in the January transfer window.

Celtic manager Brendan Rodgers was always open about the idea that Moussa Dembele could leave the club in 2018. He told the Express earlier in the year that he did not really expect the striker to stick around beyond the end of this campaign.

But could Dembele be on his way out of Parkhead even earlier? For the first time, the Frenchman has admitted that he could be lured away as early as January with a number of Premier League clubs, believed to include Chelsea, Liverpool, Everton and Brighton, all keen.

“I can say it is part of the plan (to stay) – but the plan can change. It can change,” Dembele told the Daily Record.

Links with Liverpool have intensified in recent times, especially with Daniel Sturridge heavily tipped to depart Anfield in the New Year.

For all of Roberto Firmino’s impressive performances in a false nine position and the roaring success of Mo Salah, it seems Jurgen Klopp could still do with an out-and-out centre-forward like Dembele – who capped his debut Celtic season with 32-goals and three trophies.

But Dembele’s comments could hardly have come at a worse time with fresh doubts emerging about the future of Leigh Griffiths.

The Scottish striker has been prolific once again this season but there have been rumblings of a division between him and Rodgers for some time. The manager questioned his professionalism last season, as reported by the Daily Record, and Griffiths has now been left on the bench for Celtic’s last three fixtures.

Stephen Craigan claimed in his BT Sport column that Griffiths had been ‘banished’ to third choice behind Dembele and Odsonne Edouard.

But with Dembele casting doubt on his own future, Rodgers may need to find an immediate solution to the Griffiths problem. Because Celtic may be heavily reliant on the out-of-favour striker if Dembele does indeed leave in janaury.