Moussa Dembele ‘shocked’ after Zinedine Zidane’s praise

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The Celtic striker was recently praised by Zinedine Zidane.

Celtic striker Moussa Dembele has revealed that France legend Zinedine Zidane’s praise of him “means a lot”.

Real Madrid manager Zidane recently suggested that Dembele is similar to some of the greatest strikers of recent times in that he can win games for his side on the big occasion.

As reported by the Daily Record, Zidane said: “I have played with the greatest strikers – Ronaldo, Henry, Raul. You knew on the biggest occasions they would win you games – and Dembele is already showing that.

“I do understand the biggest clubs in Europe are being linked with him and that will be his destination eventually. But my advice for now is ignore it all.”

The comments have clearly motivated Dembele, who admitted that he was “shocked” when he heard what Zidane had to say.

Dembele told Uefa: “It means a lot to me when a legend – because Zidane is a legend – praises and makes positive comments about me.

“I was pleased but at first I was shocked to hear that.

“The fact my work is not something that goes unnoticed, and the fact that a legend like Zidane speaks like that of me, my football ability and especially my future, gives an incentive to wake up in the morning and do a better job than others, and get where I want to be.”

Last season – in his first campaign at Celtic – Dembele was prolific as he scored 32 goals in 49 games across all competitions, helping the club to a treble of the Scottish Premiership, Scottish Cup and the Scottish League Cup.

Dembele’s start to the current campaign was disrupted by an injury but he has now scored six goals in 13 games and has also made an impact for France U21s.

At the age of 21, Dembele still has much time on his side to improve even further and he certainly possesses some excellent raw qualities when his pace, technique and clinical finishing are taken into consideration.

Tomorrow night Dembele will face one of his former clubs as Celtic take on Paris Saint-Germain away in the Champions League.

Dembele progressed through the ranks at the French club’s academy prior to joining Fulham in 2012 and will be especially eager to make an impact tomorrow.