Celtic are determined that Moussa Dembele will not leave for a mere €23 million. West Ham are understood to be willing to pay such a figure for the striker.
Dembele has scored four goals in the two Glasgow derbies this season. He joined Celtic from Fulham this summer. His arrival has coincided with an impressive first half of the season for Celtic.
Save for a dreadful day in the Nou Camp, Celtic performed creditably in the Champions League group phase. On top of that, their dominance of the Scottish Premiership has been startling, even by their recent standards. But for a single 2-2 draw with their old bogie team Inverness Caledonian Thistle last September, they would hold a 100% in the League. They lead by nineteen points and have a game in hand.
Celtic assistant manager Chris Davies asserted today that the West Ham figure undervalues their striker.
That figure is definitely well below the valuation, that’s for sure. There has been no formal bid or anything like that so it is speculation. From us, we know this is the best place for Moussa to develop. He is still 20 and has development left in him.
He has had a fantastic first six months, he has absolutely loved it and there is so much more to come from us as a team and from Moussa at Celtic. That is what we are concentrating on.
When you are doing well, especially when you are a striker, there is going to be big money and talk thrown around a lot – especially in transfer windows.
We cannot control that and we have just got to concentrate on trying to help him develop as a player and focus on the next game.
West Ham bids are being given the thumbs down all over the shop today. Their far more derisory £3 million offer for Hull's Robert Snodgrass was also knocked back this afternoon.
