Moussa Dembele Proves His Celtic Decision Was The RIGHT One
Well done Moussa Dembele! Celtic's high flying young striker has just been crowned the French Under 21 Player of the Year and the win will only add to the young striker's reputation as one of the hottest property's in Europe. Remarkably he has beaten off competition from Anthony Martial and Kinglsey Coman who represent Manchester United and Bayern Munich respectively. However the fact that both play in better leagues has raised some interesting questions about just what coming to Scotland actually means for an ambitious player who has the world at his feet.
For too long now we have been spoonfed the notion that any player coming to Scotland, whether he is an up and coming star or an older head, is sounding the death knell for his own career. Moussa was playing for English Championship side Fulham last season, hitting 17 goals and helping the Cottagers avoid relegation. Unsurprisingly eyebrows were raised when the striker decided to then join Celtic and in the process turn his back on sides who played in the English Premiership and several suitors from abroad. We heard the usual "He's throwing his career away" and "What's he doing going up there" from our misinformed friends down South and indeed those in our media who seem to spend all their time devising new and ingenious ways to rubbish Scottish football. What really pleases me about this award is just how much it sticks two fingers up to those who questioned his decision to come to the Champions Of Scotland.
Debate on whether players from the Scottish Premier League are able to make an impact down South was recently re-ignited when Robbie Savage and Chris Sutton clashed on the subject. Robbie claimed players couldn't hack it and was firmly handed his dinner by the behemoth that is big Chris. Guys like Van Dijk, Larsson, Van Bronckhorst were all mentioned and in truth this author could fill an entire blog with names of players who have done well down there. Could Moussa be added to that list if and when he decides to leave Celtic? Without a shadow of a doubt! Perhaps the only thing that will stop the big man from becoming a success down there is if he ignores the vastly overrated English Premiership and goes to a BETTER league instead.
If our young striker's name wasn't on the lips of every scout in Europe then he will have been after his heroics against Man City at Celtic Park. Indeed the only place where people seem to have trouble admitting that Moussa is a special talent is on the Daily Rancid hotline where all sorts of deluded zombies are allowed to rubbish him and place laughable valuations upon his head which according to one rocket today, starts at £2 million. We know the truth and those in England may one day wake up to the fact that there are some great players to be found in Scotland and that our league is not quite the walkover and backwater it is made out to be. One only has to look at Man City, who will reap the benefits of sending Patrick Roberts up North. Young Patrick has been a revelation in the hoops and will return to his parent club twice the player he was before he left.
Maybe the most pleasing aspect of Moussa's award from a Celtic point of view is just how it will encourage other up and coming players that coming to Scotland doesn't have to signal the end of your career. Who know's how many others will be tempted to follow the path that Moussa will trail-blaze, sign for Celtic and put themselves in the shop window. Obviously we want to be keeping our best players but realistically most will move on at some point and even the very top clubs face the prospect of losing their finest eventually. For now let's enjoy MD while he is here and congratulations again to the big man for his award. Well deserved!
Hail Hail
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