Calendar An icon of a desk calendar. Cancel An icon of a circle with a diagonal line across. Caret An icon of a block arrow pointing to the right. Email An icon of a paper envelope. Facebook An icon of the Facebook "f" mark. Google An icon of the Google "G" mark. Linked In An icon of the Linked In "in" mark. Logout An icon representing logout. Profile An icon that resembles human head and shoulders. Telephone An icon of a traditional telephone receiver. Tick An icon of a tick mark. Is Public An icon of a human eye and eyelashes. Is Not Public An icon of a human eye and eyelashes with a diagonal line through it. Pause Icon A two-lined pause icon for stopping interactions. Quote Mark A opening quote mark. Quote Mark A closing quote mark. Arrow An icon of an arrow. Folder An icon of a paper folder. Breaking An icon of an exclamation mark on a circular background. Camera An icon of a digital camera. Caret An icon of a caret arrow. Clock An icon of a clock face. Close An icon of the an X shape. Close Icon An icon used to represent where to interact to collapse or dismiss a component Comment An icon of a speech bubble. Comments An icon of a speech bubble, denoting user comments. Comments An icon of a speech bubble, denoting user comments. Ellipsis An icon of 3 horizontal dots. Envelope An icon of a paper envelope. Facebook An icon of a facebook f logo. Camera An icon of a digital camera. Home An icon of a house. Instagram An icon of the Instagram logo. LinkedIn An icon of the LinkedIn logo. Magnifying Glass An icon of a magnifying glass. Search Icon A magnifying glass icon that is used to represent the function of searching. Menu An icon of 3 horizontal lines. Hamburger Menu Icon An icon used to represent a collapsed menu. Next An icon of an arrow pointing to the right. Notice An explanation mark centred inside a circle. Previous An icon of an arrow pointing to the left. Rating An icon of a star. Tag An icon of a tag. Twitter An icon of the Twitter logo. Video Camera An icon of a video camera shape. Speech Bubble Icon A icon displaying a speech bubble WhatsApp An icon of the WhatsApp logo. Information An icon of an information logo. Plus A mathematical 'plus' symbol. Duration An icon indicating Time. Success Tick An icon of a green tick. Success Tick Timeout An icon of a greyed out success tick. Loading Spinner An icon of a loading spinner. Facebook Messenger An icon of the facebook messenger app logo. Facebook An icon of a facebook f logo. Facebook Messenger An icon of the Twitter app logo. LinkedIn An icon of the LinkedIn logo. WhatsApp Messenger An icon of the Whatsapp messenger app logo. Email An icon of an mail envelope. Copy link A decentered black square over a white square.

Alan Brazil: Let’s hope Celtic’s wonderkid Dembele can follow in Jinky’s footsteps

Karamoko Kader Dembele (Jamie Williamson)
Karamoko Kader Dembele (Jamie Williamson)

CELTIC wonderkid Karamoko Dembele has already been dubbed “the new Messi” after exploding on to the scene, aged just 13.

But for the Bhoys’ sake – and for Scotland’s – I hope the footsteps the youngster follows in belong to another wee superstar – Jimmy Johnstone.

“Jinky”, like Messi, was a world-class football player. He won leagues, cups, European honours and international caps.

But more than that, he did it all whilst playing for Celtic.

Jimmy Johnstone in action, 1969 (SNS Group)
Jimmy Johnstone in action, 1969 (SNS Group)

Times have changed since then, and football has changed too.

These days, Celtic can’t compete with Europe’s top clubs in terms of attracting top talent, so when a homegrown gem like Dembele comes along, everybody gets swept up in the excitement.

If the wee man continues to develop, it will only be a matter of time until bigger clubs swoop.

Let’s not kid ourselves on – the likes of Barcelona, Bayern Munich and Manchester City will have been aware of him even before he hit the headlines.

But there’s a cautionary tale, custom-made for the people looking after Dembele, in the shape of Islam Feruz.

Here was a player hyped as a kid at Celtic and was fast-tracked into the Scotland set-up – a player who then jumped at the first chance of a move away from Parkhead when Chelsea came calling.

What has he done since? Nothing. Or, at least, nothing on the pitch.

Feruz has been farmed out on loan four times by Chelsea – four times he has returned to Stamford Bridge having failed to make an impact.

Off the field, amidst accusations of a major attitude problem, he has found himself in bother with the courts for a driving offence.

For a kid who promised so much, the last five years have been a major disappointment.

I can’t help but wonder whether things might have panned out differently had he stuck it out at Celtic, who gave him his debut in a testimonial aged just 14.

Dembele has arguably started life at Celtic even more impressively than Feruz did. I just hope he stays a bit longer.

It’s a delicate situation for Brendan Rodgers and Celtic’s youth coaches.

But knowing Brendan as I do, I reckon he’s got the ability to handle it perfectly.

The Bhoys boss will have thought long and hard about whether to pitch his 13-year-old star in at Under-20 level.

In the end, he felt it was the right move – and Celtic fans should stand behind him on that.

Having come through the ranks at Celtic Boys Club myself, I know that 90% of kids who are part of the set-up at 13 will not make it to the first-team.

But sometimes a kid comes along who is a wee bit special – and Dembele fits the bill.

By testing him against older opponents, Celtic are doing right by him.

Scotland are doing the same by preparing him for the upcoming Victory Shield clashes.

I’m just keeping my fingers crossed that, in the end, both club and country get to enjoy the benefit of their hard work.


READ MORE

Celtic vow not to rush development of 13-year-old sensation Karamoko Dembele after under-20s debut

Moussa Dembele says Celtic can compete with the best after Manchester City draw