Celtic manager sends contract message to Karamoko Dembele

For years, Karamoko Dembele has been one of the most exciting talents at Celtic. But for one reason or another, he has not gotten enough chances to prove himself in the first-team. Under the management of Neil Lennon, not a lot of youngsters broke into the senior team from the youth ranks. And there were hopes that that would change when Ange Postecoglou arrived.

And for the most part, it has, with the manager giving opportunities to a number of youngsters till now. Expectations were that Dembele would get them as well.

But a pre-season injury kept him out of action for months. Now, Dembele is back though, and will be hoping to make an impact in the first-team picture.

Interestingly, his current deal with The Hoops runs out at the end of this season. And Ange Postecoglou appears to have sent him and Ben Doak a message about what they can expect at the club if they stayed on. As reported by 67 Hail Hail, the manager told Celtic TV:

"“With him and Ben they’re in a similar boat, it’s also about their futures and where they see their futures. I’ve said all along that for me, this football club is everything that a young player should want. Particularly at the moment. I really want to bring young players into our first-team and give them an opportunity as we have already.“But they’ve got to be invested in our football club. They’ve got to want to be here and they’ve got to want to be here long-term. If they see their futures elsewhere or they’re not certain then I have total respect for that and everyone has the right to make their own decisions, but I’m going to invest time and opportunity into the people who want to stay at our football club.”"

Celtic manager sends future message to Karamoko

It is safe to say that this is a big decision for Dembele when it comes to his future. And the fact that he has not gotten a lot of chances at Celtic will not help the club’s chances of getting him to agree to a new deal.

It does feel like though that he still has a lot to offer to Celtic, if he decided to stay on. And with the direction the The Hoops are moving in, it might be the perfect place for a player like Dembele to develop and reach his full potential.

It remains to be seen what he decides to do but staying is something that he should definitely consider. The 19-year-old completed his return recently, when he came on as a substitute against St Mirren.