Celtic are right to demand £30- 40 million for talisman Moussa Dembele

Most 20-year-olds would be stuck on cloud nine and might decide to ease off after scoring hat-tricks in consecutive matches. Moussa Dembele, though, was already thinking about the next one. “It was another hat-trick and I will keep working hard in training and hopefully there are more to come this season,“ the Frenchman said after netting three times in 14 minutes against Inverness Caledonian Thistle last week. It’s an elite mentality and one that gives him every chance of reaching the very top of European football. It’s also why Celtic are rightly demanding an elite sum of money for their most prized asset.

Signed for a measly compensation fee of £500,000 there’s no doubt that the Hoops will make an outrageous profit on the striker who’s become a hero in Glasgow’s east end. Few would have predicted Dembele’s meteoric rise after a tricky start to life in Scotland, one that has seen him almost completely oust last season’s talisman Leigh Griffiths from the starting line up. Griffiths struck a mighty 40 goals last term but Dembele is on course to better that total having scored 26 so far spread nicely across all four competitions- 12 in the league, four in the League Cup, five in the Scottish Cup and five in Europe.

The ex Fulham prodigy’s last six goals- back-to-back hat-tricks- have been a masterclass in finishing. Dembele said earlier in the season that he wants to emulate his boyhood inspiration Thierry Henry and has shown a killer instinct the Arsenal legend would be proud of. Calm one-touch goals, headers, penalties; Dembele has all the tools to be a first class predator but there’s so much more to his game to admire. There’s an excellent blend of pace, power, work ethic and technical skill that suggests he could become an all-round world class number nine in the coming years.

Forwards with aspirations of making it to the top aren’t just judged on the amount of goals they score, however, it’s who they score against and Dembele boasts many goals that fall into the ‘big game’ category. None bigger than Manchester City who he notched a brace against at Parkhead and tormented for the majority of the match. To add to that, he’s scored five goals in three Glasgow derbies plus a goal in the League Cup final.

In this day and age a player of that calibre, plus future potential, would likely fetch a huge fee if he was playing anywhere other than Scotland but Celtic are adamant they won’t sell for less than £30 million and they’re right to place that price tag on the man Brendan Rodgers compared to Didier Drogba. The club are in a strong position financially having raked in around £30 million from this season’s Champions League run. On top of that outgoing transfers in the last five years have seen the Hoops make near £40 million for Gary Hooper, Victor Wanyama, Fraser Forster and Virgil van Dijk.

The Scottish champions have had no option but to accept the money offered by Premier League clubs for their best players in recent years mainly because entry into the Champions League- and the massive financial benefits that come with it- has been hard to come by. This time the ball is firmly in Celtic’s court from a financial and sporting perspective.

Dembele said just a fortnight ago, following the 5-2 win at St.Johnstone that: “My future is here and I’m enjoying myself.” Another year in Scotland’s top flight is hardly going to harm Dembele’s progression especially under Rodgers, whose demanding demeanour is resulting in the Bhoys breaking multiple records this term. If no sale were to occur in the summer and Dembele continued to enhance his reputation especially in European competition, it’s inevitable the Premier League sharks will be circling around France’s Young Player of the Year once again and Celtic can maintain their current stance with regard to his valuation.

Rodgers himself knows the spending power of clubs down south all too well. During his three-year stint at Liverpool the Northern Irishman recklessly forked out close to £300 million on players including £25 million on Adam Lallana and £32.5 million on Christian Benteke. There were a number of other staggering transfer fees paid for players who barely made an impression at Anfield. With that first hand experience, Rodgers is hardly likely to let his blue-chip asset leave for a fee that doesn’t do Dembele’s ability justice especially with three years remaining on the 20-year-old’s contract. That’s part of having a “Champions League mentality” as Rodgers puts it when talking about his vision for the club.

Consider the precedents that have already been set this season for players who don’t have the quality or potential of Dembele. Last summer saw the aforementioned Benteke sign for Crystal Palace for £30 million while Moussa Sissoko and Yannick Bolasie moved to Tottenham Hotspur and Everton respectively for the same price. Taking all factors into account, Celtic are justifiably holding on to their valuation of £30- 40 million even if the rest of the country raise their eyebrows in bemusement because such a fee is obscene this side of the border.

And they won’t be bullied by the might of Premier League clubs when they inevitably come calling for Dembele in a few months. West Ham’s approach of £20 million was even laughed off by the hierarchy in January. Whether a move materialises or not this summer, it’s great to see a young man full of ambition plying his trade in the Scottish Premiership who’s destined to eventually have a shot on the most grand stage.