On Monday, Sky Sports managed to annoy a vast chunk of Glasgow and excite the south of France in one swift move.
How? By claiming Marseille held talks over the weekend with Celtic regarding the possible transfer of Moussa Dembélé.
While that’s fine in itself, it’s the fact the report stated the Scottish Premiership champions were only asking for a fee ‘in the region of £20m’ that seemed to get Celtic fans riled up.
After all, the 21-year-old scored 32 goals last season in 49 appearances, and many think he’s worth a lot more than that, especially in the current market.
Over in France, however, the Marseille fanbase seem pretty excited about the potential transfer, as exemplified by a poll on France Football on Monday suggesting 74% (at the time of writing) would prefer the young forward over the likes of Olivier Giroud and Carlos Bacca, and who can blame them?
Were the Ligue 1 side to sign the Celtic forward and he carried on last year’s form in France, the resale value would be close to astronomical.
Compared to Giroud and Bacca, bringing in former Fulham starlet would be an investment as well as a considerable improvement on the Valère Germain alternative currently at Rudi Garcia’s disposal in Clinton N’Jié.
Furthermore, Marseille do have the financial power to meet Celtic’s demands if they so wish, especially if they know they can sell him on in a couple of years time.
Will it happen? We’ll have to wait and see, but if £20m is all Brendan Rodgers’ side are asking for, then it’s certainly a possibility.
