Karamoko Dembele’s time at Celtic has been a bit of a disappointment till now. During his youth days, he was considered as one of the biggest talents in world football and was wanted by some of the biggest clubs in Europe. His development has not gone as smoothly as expected though, as first-team chances have been hard to come by at Parkhead and at 19 years of age, he has barely made a mark at the club.

Just when it had looked like there was a good chance that he could get some decent minutes at Celtic, he ended up picking up a long-term injury in pre-season and it is only recently that he has returned to fitness.

Thus, most people expect Karamoko to depart the club when his current deal comes to an end at the end of the season. But, there could still be a twist to come.

As reported by The Celtic Star, Kieran Devlin mentioned an improvement in Dembele’s work ethic in his article in The Athletic:

In 2021, when Dembele’s contract was approaching its expiration at Celtic, Barcelona, Manchester City and Bayern Munich were nowhere to be seen. Their interest had faded, as it had from most European elite teams.

Over the years, sources close to the youth teams and B team have cited issues over application in training and in B-team games, and this was an issue noted by sources close to the academies of some of those European sides.

However, those same sources close to Celtic also mention an improvement in that work ethic under Ange Postecoglou, even with Dembele’s limited time under the Australian given his protracted spell on the sidelines this season.

He also points out:

Postecoglou keeps surprising those sources with his faith in Dembele, and maybe the winger will surprise everyone by giving it another go at Celtic and under a coach who loves working with dynamic attacking players.

Could Karamoko still end up becoming a star at Celtic?

Someone like Postecoglou could be the perfect manager for Dembele. His attacking style of football might suit the player and his strengths.

Of course, he is yet to show anything significant at the senior level till now and there is a long way to go before he can even be considered a regular at this level.

There is not a lot of the season left, with seven more league games to go and a couple more Scottish Cup games at most, and only one if the Rangers end up winning the semi-finals.

Dembele’s current deal is expected to run out at the end of this season though and it will be very interesting to see his next step.

This article was originally posted here