Marseille open talks to sign Dembele

Celtic fans nightmares may become reality as Les Olympiens open talks with the club for highly rated striker.

It has been reported today that French club Olympique de Marseille have opened talks with Celtic regarding their highly sought after target man Moussa Dembele. It is thought that the asking fee would be in the region of £20m.

GLASGOW, SCOTLAND – OCTOBER 19: Brendan Rogers, Manager of Celtic and Moussa Dembele of Celtic embrace following the UEFA Champions League group C match between Celtic FC and VfL Borussia Moenchengladbach at Celtic Park on October 19, 2016 in Glasgow, Scotland. (Photo by Mark Runnacles/Getty Images)

Wanted man

Dembele has found himself high in demand coming off this past season in which scored 32 times helping the hoops to an invincible treble. Marseille are the latest in a long list of suitors interested in prying the French man away from Parkhead.

A list including teams like Manchester United, Chelsea, Arsenal and PSG are said to be monitoring the 21 year old’s progress in Glasgow however to my knowledge Marseille are the only club to have approached Celtic for talks.

The talks are said to have been held this week when Les Olympiens arrived in Glasgow to take on Rangers in a pre-season friendly that ended 1-1.

Moussa #Dembele finishes top of poll asking #Marseille fans who they want as their striker next season #Celtic pic.twitter.com/Y4iiUMH6Du
— The Celtic Bhoys (@CelticBhoysFS) July 25, 2017

Just to add a bit more fuel to the fire. A poll was done by the website French Football asking Marseille fans who they would like to see lead their line next season. The outcome was an overwhelming vote in favor of Dembele over the likes of Arsenal striker Oliver Giroud and AC Milan front man Carlos Bacca.

Rosenborg is the priority

While Celtic have not come out and denied that the striker is for sale, it is thought that manager Brendan Rodgers will not make any decision on the future of Dembele until after the Champions League qualifiers.

Next: Can Griffiths and Dembele play together?

Celtic play Rosenborg who currently sit atop the Norweigan premier league this Wednesday 26th July at Celtic Park. One notable absence from the game will be section 111 and those who inhabit it. This section is more commonly known as the Green Brigade who will serve the first of their two game stadium ban. The return leg will be played in Norway on August 2nd.