Karamoko Dembele scores for Celtic youngsters again; what chance a senior breakthrough?

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The 15-year-old has developed quite the reputation already at Celtic, but fans will fear him moving on before he even earns his professional debut.

Celtic prodigy Karamoko Dembele netted another goal for the Hoops under-17s last night as they dominated Partick Thistle away in the Glasgow Cup.

The youngster rose to prominence over a year ago, when a video of winger’s sublime skills and general display of footballing ability beyond his years went viral, despite the player only being 13 at the time.

Having just celebrated his 15th birthday, Dembele is nearing the age when senior debuts begin to be won, and the youth player will have his eyes on breaking Jack Aitchison’s record as the youngest ever player to represent the Celtic first-team.

However, as many fans are beginning to fear, with the 15-year-old already having become such a high profile player, how much longer will he be playing his football in Scotland, especially considering there is already an ongoing battle for his international future between the Scottish and English FAs.

A strong comparison and case study for the current Dembele situation would be the Celtic career of Islam Feruz, who similarly spent the majority of his youth career at Celtic as a highly promising youngster who was attracting interest from sizeable clubs further afield.

In 2011, Feruz was snapped up by Chelsea before even kicking a ball for the Celtic senior side, and has since gone on to have a rather disappointing career. The Scotland youth player is now 22, with five loan spells under his belt and not a single Chelsea appearance to his name.

If Dembele is not careful, a similar fate could be in store for the youngster.

There is no doubt that Celtic Park and Lennoxtown is a brilliant place for a young player to develop, and the under-17 star should be wary of being ill-advised by agents.

Dembele is a Scotland under-16 international, but has also represented England under-15s, as the two countries go head to head in a battle over his international future. The winger should be wary of this as the same situation is likely arise again; this time between Celtic and various English clubs.