Moussa Dembele endures nightmare start to Atletico Madrid career

Moussa Dembele just completed a move to Atletico Madrid in a deal that could land Celtic quite a cash windfall next summer but has suffered an unfortunate setback before his debut match.

Moussa Dembele, who only recently completed a loan deal through the end of the season with Atletico Madrid, has reportedly ended up testing positive for COVID-19 in his first week in Madrid and the news was confirmed by their official Twitter.

Atletico Madrid’s La Liga clash with Celta Vigo on Monday was likely to be the former Celtic hero’s debut, but he is now set to miss the match after having not appeared for previous side Lyon since mid-December.

With Lyon sitting second in Ligue 1, they had been looking to offload the striker for some time now as he was no longer in their first-team picture and struck a deal to loan him to La Liga leaders Atletico Madrid for the rest of their campaign with an option to buy as well.

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The former Celtic star could be a hit at Atletico Madrid

Dembele could make quite the splash for the Spanish side after the side let Diego Costa depart in December. And with an estimated sell-on clause of 10-15% included in his contract, Atletico signing him on a permanent basis could net the Hoops between £3 million to £5 million to spend this summer alongside the fees from Frimpong’s departure.

Dembele was an integral part of Celtic’s success from 2016 to 2018, scoring 51 times in 94 appearances and was one of the best players that we have had the pleasure of watching turn out for The Hoops in recent times.

His first two seasons in France saw him continue in the same vein of form, with 44 goals over that span, but his productivity has declined since then and he was no longer a part of the first-team picture there before being loaned out to Atletico Madrid.

What’s most important now though is his health and here’s to hoping his recovery is swift and he can get back to his true form in Spain. Best of luck, Moussa.