Celtic reject formal offer for French striker Moussa Dembele

By Daniel Lewis, Senior Reporter | 25 January 2018

Celtic boss Brendan Rodgers insists that Moussa Dembele remains "fully committed" to the club, having been made the subject of a formal transfer offer.

Brendan Rodgers has confirmed that Celtic have knocked back an official bid for Moussa Dembele and intend to keep the striker at the club.

The 21-year-old, under contract at Celtic Park until the summer of 2020, is reportedly on the radar of Premier League pair Brighton & Hove Albion and Crystal Palace.

Rodgers admitted last week that Dembele's form has been disrupted by the growing speculation, but the Hoops boss has stressed that the Frenchman remains "fully committed" to Celtic regardless of interest from elsewhere.

"Moussa has never once asked to leave Celtic," he told reporters at his weekly press conference. "We brought him here as a talented young player at 19 and he has shown that talent. He has come in with a plan: his agent, himself and I know what the plan was but he has never asked once to leave. He is fully committed to Celtic.

"We have had one official bid for him that is nowhere near the value of what the value of Moussa is. But equal to that we have no interest in selling him. He is not a player for sale, he has two and half years left on his contract. He is an extremely talented young player. Naturally, we said a few weeks ago about a little bit of focus but it's only natural.

"But he has trained, he is working well, is working hard and he is available. That's as clear as I can be. In defence of the player, because it is important for supporters to understand, this is a boy that is fully committed to Celtic. He has been linked with so many teams so naturally the mind can wander but he is a great boy.

"He won't be like what you see in some clubs and what you have witnessed before, where players down tools. It is not the case at all. He is a really good boy who we want to keep here and the only thing that would ever take him away is if he didn't want to be here and if that is the case then someone would have to meet his value and at this moment at time, neither is the case."

Dembele, with eight goals to his name this campaign, has been an unused substitute in Celtic's last two games.