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Watch: Celtic Striker Reveals 13-Year-Old Wonderkid Already Training With First Team

Mikey Traynor
By Mikey Traynor
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Karamoko Dembele took social media by storm at the beginning of the month after it emerged that the 13-year-old footballing prodigy from the Ivory Coast was handed a debut for Celtic's U20 side.

Once footage from the wee lad's highlight reveal followed, he was talked up worldwide as a wonderkid, someone who was clearly far more developed in terms of his football IQ than his peers, even if his body hadn't caught up yet.

With so much focus on the Dembele who only recently became a teenager, you could forgive Celtic striker Moussa Dembele for feeling a little aggrieved for having his thunder stolen after bagging a brace in an enthralling Champions League clash with Man City, but the opposite is true.

The bigger Dembele told the BBC that Karamoko was already training with the senior squad, although the pros were going easy on him due to his size... Which we have to say we're glad to hear.

We didn't want to kick him because he is still so small.

He is a good talent but we have to wait and see how he will improve as a player.

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That is a wise stance to take, as Celtic fans constantly brought up the name of Islam Feruz in order to ensure that their fellow supporters kept a level head. The "wonderkid" of his day, Feruz had his head turned by Chelsea and eventually agreed to move to London before making a senior appearance for the Glasgow club, and inevitably was loaned out until all of his talent was sapped.

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Brendan Rodgers is another one who is approaching the situation with caution, as he expressed when asked for an opinion on the wee Ivorian star.

I don't want to talk about it too much because I think the coverage that it has got is not right for the boy.

At 13 years of age he just needs to be left alone. Let him develop. He's a very exciting player of course but he's 13 years of age. That's all there is to be said on him.

You have to be very careful with young players. He doesn't need any more exposure. I've met his family, he's happy here, he's happy at Celtic, but, he's a child. We have to all be aware of that.

Rodgers certainly does have a point, but any time a 13-year-old is participating in training with the first-team of a Champions League club, there will inevitably be interest as to his story.

Celtic would be wise to wrap Karamoko Dembele in cotton wool for the time being, although maybe having him train with the likes of Scott Brown isn't the best way to go about that.

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[via BBC.com]

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