Moussa Dembele must time Celtic exit right amid Manchester United links

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Celtic striker Moussa Dembele has been linked to Manchester United this week.

As if the French did not do enough damage to Celtic last night with Paris Saint-Germain’s 7-1 victory in the Champions League, today their leading newspaper is linking Moussa Dembele with a move away.

According to L’Equipe, via The Guardian, Manchester United have opened talks with the 21-year-old striker, who scored Celtic’s goal at Parc des Princes, about a move to Old Trafford at the end of the season.

Dembele’s Celtic career definitely has a shelf life as he must leave to fulfil his huge potential, but it is important that the France Under-21 international gets the timing of his departure right in order to maximise his career.

There should be no rush for him to leave Parkhead just yet, when regular football is still imperative to Dembele’s development and with Brendan Rodgers an excellent manager to help take his game to the next level.

But there is only so much that Dembele can learn in the Scottish Premiership and while Celtic remain largely uncompetitive in the Champions League, he does not want to be stuck with the Bhoys during his peak years as Henrik Larsson was. Spells at Barcelona and Man United came too late for the prolific Swede.

Dembele, who has 39 goals in 63 appearanced for Celtic, is not at Larsson level yet and would struggle to break into the United team ahead of the likes of Romelu Lukaku, Zlatan Ibrahimovic and Marcus Rashford.

The youngster should remain patient, stick with Celtic beyond the summer and make sure he chooses the right club and the right manager, at the right time. At the moment, Celtic are the right club, and Rodgers the right manager.