16 May 2017 18:53:51
If indeed dembele to chelsea It would be great to see . christiansen . van ginkle. as part of any deal.

1.) 16 May 2017
16 May 2017 20:36:28
I think it's disappointing to hear about Dembele.
From what I read, he seems happy at the club, he hasn't asked for a move, and he's nowhere near the end of his contract, so why are the club agreeing a fee with Chelsea? .
Talking about replacements is all well and good, but there is no guarantee that they will settle as well as Dembele has.
We have improved a lot this season, why on earth do we want to go back a year and start over again?,
I hate to say it after such a good season, but it just looks like the club has reverted to type and can't resist the lure of money coming in.
If we want to improve long term, we have to start keeping our best players for more than a season, it's hard enough at the best of times to keep them happy, but to sell them when they don't want to leave is just madness in my opinion.

{Ed007's Note - Celtic gave Dembele permission to talk to Chelsea in January. From that Chelsea would have got an idea of his demands to put together the package on offer, the only stumbling block which Chelsea told him in January is guaranteed game time. Celtic aren't forcing Dembele into anything here, the player would happily sign for Chelsea if they gave him the guarantees he's looking for and Celtic would get the fee they're looking for.}

2.) 16 May 2017
16 May 2017 21:06:00
You only have to look at the lad batshiauy (think its spelled) for an example of game time and to be fair both of them are probably as good as each other. That would be an ideal swap for me.

3.) 16 May 2017
16 May 2017 21:24:57
I take it then ED, that the player asked to speak to Chelsea? . If that's the case then all this talk he's been coming out with about him being happy here, and wanting to improve himself was just nonsense, as at the time he asked to speak to Chelsea he'd only been here for 6 months.
In a way that's worse than the usual way that players behave as he's not only chasing the money, he also wants a guaranteed starting place as well.
Nice work if you can get it.

{Ed007's Note - Nobody's said Dembele isn't happy here. Chelsea will have asked Celtic for permission to talk to the player - knowing the money Celtic were asking - and they'd have been stupid to say no. Dembele and his agent will know the figure that Celtic will sell and so do Chelsea, hence the fee being agreed. If the Club had refused the players agent could argue the Club is standing in the player's way which the manager has said we will never do.
Do you really think all these multi-million transfers deals happen in the space of a couple of weeks? Celtic will have held talks with players or their agents in January about moving here in the summer, sometimes it can be one summer to the next before some deals are finalised. How many times has David de Gea held talks with Madrid? Clubs like Chelsea have plans in place for players they will try and sign in 2/3 years time from all corners of the globe.}

4.) 16 May 2017
16 May 2017 22:27:35
ED, I know these transfer deals take a long time, but the player had only been here for 6 months.
I'm just going on what you said, that basically if Chelsea offer him first team football he'll be off. I just think that for us to improve we need to hang on to our better players for more than a season.

{Ed007's Note - Celtic were obviously happy with the money, maybe even surprised that Chelsea would pay it, and most clubs will allow a player to at least talk if their valuation is met, especially if it's a massive life changing move. Celtic will probably have told Dembele that if someone offers X amount they will let him talk to them so that the player doesn't feel the Club are pricing him out a move, we will have made a lot of promises to get Dembele to sign last summer.
Dembele wants to play football and doesn't want to move to Chelsea to sit on their bench or be loaned out just like he didn't want to move to Spurs and sit on their bench last summer or the January window before. He's telling Chelsea that he's not leaving Celtic to sit on their bench, the money isn't that important to him, he wants to play regularly at the highest level he can and if that means spending another year at Celtic then that's what he'll happily do.
Fair play to the lad that he's not just chasing money, if that was the case we'd have never signed him. Let's wait and see how things pan out over the summer, as I've said Chelsea have said Dembele needs to change his standpoint and Dembele isn't for being anything other than first choice strike wherever he's playing.
Perhaps with the things he's said he doesn't see Chelsea budging so he is thinking that he will still be here next season.}

5.) 16 May 2017
16 May 2017 22:43:39
So ED is he or is he not leaving in the summer in your opinion?

{Ed007's Note - I'll say imo it's 70/30 in our favour just now, it's only talks and I think Chelsea will have their eye on someone else to be their main striker so won't give Dembele the guarantees he's looking for.}

6.) 16 May 2017
16 May 2017 23:23:22
As we all know Celtic won't let the cat out the bag on signings in or out so am not sure how and who brought this out?

{Ed007's Note - It came from high up at the Chelsea end.}

7.) 16 May 2017
16 May 2017 23:41:20
Oh well could be a goer then if it's coming from there then oh shit!

8.) 17 May 2017
16 May 2017 23:50:06
guys get a grip. We can not turn our noses up at 40 million quid. And to be fair if he can make it in that Chelsea side good luck to him. The bigger picture as a team looking forward is to continue growing and the money we would generate would pretty much ensure 10 in a row and qualifying for champions league group stages for the next umpteen years. I for one am not going to baulk at losing one amazing player with the knowledge that it secures my club with the ability to dominate our national game and grow our ability to compete at a European level.

9.) 17 May 2017
17 May 2017 07:37:45
Mmi I agree with all of that.

40m would be too much to turn down. I'd be surprised if it was that much though. Perhaps 20-25 would be my guess. Plus a player or two at a push.

Chelsea would be making a big gamble making Dembele their no.1 striker right now. So I'll ask yet again, what has changed with MD? Nothing. Unless he changes his standpoint on how much game time he's going to get or they turn his head with silly money, I think we might just see Moose stay with Chelsea having first option.

When we signed him I was excited. Not just because I thought we had an exciting player, but because I knew we had an asset. I'd like MD to stay, if he stays fit and continues at the rate he's been at then he could go on to score more than Henke, and that's worth more than twenty-odd million to me. However, even Henke had other ambitions, like Dembele probably does so cashing in is sensible. Within a few seasons, there could be another opportunity to sign a player like Dembele on the cheap and do a turn. And we could use the example of Dembele to lure them here. We could do it with Solanke the now. Any extra cash can be used to continue to sign good players, and assets, in other areas.

Providing the reinvestment is right, it's the best model we have to follow.

10.) 17 May 2017
17 May 2017 07:44:49
I don't think that they would pay 40m from just one seasons showing I think the player himself will decide I think that he will stay the summer and hopefully do well and then move on in January.