According to French publication La Provence, Marseille are hoping to bring Celtic striker Moussa Dembele back to his home country in a £17m deal, but Celtic must keep hold of their main man.
What’s the story?
The Daily Record reported earlier in the summer that Marseille, Borrusia Dortmund, Chelsea, Crystal Palace and Juventus were all interested in the 22-year-old, but none have made a formal bid so far.
Since joining from Fulham on a free transfer in the summer of 2016, Dembele has scored an impressive 51 goals in 93 appearances for the Bhoys and is now valued at £6.3m by Transfermarkt, although Celtic boss Brendan Rodgers will be holding out for much more.
The prolific young striker is also a France U21 international and has nine goals in 14 games for his country’s youth side.
Not at any price
However after Celtic’s poor start to the season the Hoops cannot afford to sell Dembele at any price this summer. The Frenchman is currently out with a thigh injury that has seen him miss six matches and the Parkhead side have struggled in his absence.
A 1-0 defeat by Hearts in only their second game of the Scottish Premiership season coupled with a loss over two legs to AEK Athens in the Champions League qualifiers has meant that the pressure is building on Rodgers already, despite the Northern Irishman securing the famous double treble last season.
Celtic splashed £9m on a deal for former loanee and striker Odsonne Edouard from PSG this summer, but they cannot afford to sell Dembele who remains their main goal threat. With Rangers returning to the top under Steven Gerrard, Rodgers will need his top players firing.
[ad_pod ]
