Former Celtic striker Moussa Dembele has revealed that players at Lyon were in contact with him asking him to sign before making the switch to France.
The French forward credits their insistence he leaves Glasgow as one of the key reasons why he wanted to move to the Ligue 1 outfit.
The 22-year-old made a £20m move at the end of the summer transfer window after controversially acting up in training and taking to training to share his displeasure at the club’s treatment of him.
Now he’s opened up on the move.
As quoted by The Scottish Sun, he said:
Before signing, I received a lot of messages and calls from the club’s players. They made me come.
We know Lyon, it’s a historic club. There were some very great players, especially attackers. It is a pride to represent this club.
My choice was already made. There is no particular pressure to have in relation to the succession to the attacker’s post. Everyone has his destiny, his story.
My predecessors did a great job. They have made history. It’s now up to me to write mine. You just have to trust yourself.
Since joining Lyon the forward has made two appearances, one from the bench and one from the start. He’ll be hoping to play a big part in their season and raise his profile even further on the European football scene.
From Celtic’s perspective it was probably best that he was allowed to leave given his clear desire to exit. Having an unhappy Dembele in the squad would have been disruptive and detrimental to our season, even if we are lacking for goals right now.
Hopefully the club will attempt to sign a serious third option in attack when the January transfer window opens.
Were the club right to sell Dembele? Have your say in the comments below…