In his first season in the Scottish Premiership after moving from Fulham to Celtic, French youngster Moussa Dembele has put himself on the radar of big European clubs with his goalscoring record for the Bhoys. His latest feat was a 30-minute hat-trick as a substitute against Saint Johnstone last Sunday, helping his team come back from a 2-1 deficit to win easily, 5-2. The 20-year-old now has 23 goals for the season, including three in the Champions League group stage.
One of the clubs reportedly interested in his services are Premier League leaders Chelsea, with rather intriguingly timed trip to London “for a knee scan” on the last day of the winter transfer window only emboldening the chatter. However, nothing has come of that yet, with Conte denying any such knowledge (he wouldn’t be in charge of any effort to land the youngster, in fairness) and Dembele himself posting an emphatic “I’m not leaving” response to all the rumors.
He recently addressed the rumors directly as well.
"It's easy not to get distracted. I'm a very calm kind of guy and I don't really let this type of thing get in my head. I focus only on enjoying my football at Celtic and I'm very happy to be here."
"I don't really listen to what has been said about me, I just try to get fit as quickly as possible and back on the pitch."
-Moussa Dembele; source: London Evening Standard
The 20-year-old striker would no doubt be a good addition to any squad, though investing £40 million in Dembele may make things awkward for £33 million investment Michy Batshuayi, not to mention our own youngsters like Tammy Abraham. That said, Chelsea need to be proactive in the search for a plan B in case Diego Costa really does take his talents to China or back to Spain next summer.