Premier League club Crystal Palace have emerged as the leading contestant for the signature of Moussa Dembele, according to the Daily Mirror.
Dembele was left out of Celtic’s 2-1 Scottish Premiership win over Partick Thistle on Tuesday night. This came after assistant manager Chris Davies told told the Scottish Sun there is “an acceptance that maybe Moussa feels it is the right time for him to move on.”
The Ealges are believed to be bookies favourites to secure the signing of the France Under-21 star, although he has also been linked with Brighton and Hove Albion, West Bromwich Albion and Everton.
Palace boss Roy Hodgson is searching for a new man to lead his side’s attack having been left short of options at the Selhurst Park.
In the former England boss side, Connor Wickham is currently out of action with an hamstring injury while Christian Benteke has found the net just once in 18 games this season.
It appears that Dembele – who has scoring record of 40 goals in 70 appearances for the club – is Hodgson prime target this January.
The Bhoys assistant manager insisted earlier this month, however, that “Celtic would be looking at £20m” in they’re to part ways with the 21-year-old.
Davies told the Scottish Sun:
“It’s definitely well below his valuation, that’s for sure,”
“The message has been pretty clear from the manager, he spoke about it last month. For us, we know this is the best place for Moussa to develop and improve.
“He is still 20-years-old, he has development left in him. “Obviously, when you are doing well and especially when you are a striker, then there is going to be big money and talk thrown about a lot, especially during transfer windows.
“But we can’t control that, we just have to concentrate on trying to develop him as a player. Moussa is happy and we are working hard, and that’s that.”
"The treatment of him by Celtic has been poor!"
Some of the stuff said has been out of order!"@chris_sutton73 leaps to the defence of Moussa Dembele… pic.twitter.com/qkmLEjub2o
— Football on BT Sport (@btsportfootball) January 23, 2018