Moussa Dembele remembers every second of walking in the front door at Celtic. It was 10 years ago, yet for him, it feels like yesterday. As part of Brendan Rodgers’ 2016 revolution in Glasgow’s East End, Dembele was a key component. An instant success. A superstar in the making bursting onto the scene.
Hat-trick on derby debut
As Celtic’s new strikers such as Kasper Hogh and Camilo Duran struggled on their debuts against Rangers, it was easy for fans’ minds to drift back a decade to the day when their new French boy instantly announced himself on the Light Blues with a hat-trick bang. The worries about top-scorer Leigh Griffiths failing to make the match due to injury were blown away by Dembele’s brilliance as Rodgers’ side ran 5-1 riot. It came at the start of a season where Celtic would be Invincibles and, to many, it was the day which launched the new attacker’s fabulous two years at the club.
However, ask the player himself, and he’ll count you back over a month earlier to where it really started. And, ironically, it was another transfer from Griffiths that offered that first key moment. Being held 1-1 by Astana in a Champions League qualifier, Dembele's delightful trickery saw him brought down and Celtic awarded a stoppage-time penalty. Griffiths, who had already sank one in the first-half against the Kazakhs, seemed certain to take it, yet the responsibility went to the sub, the new boy. It was a monumental moment. Miss and it’s an awful start to life in Glasgow. But, as Dembele would prove over the next 24 months, he was up to the job. Clinical and classy.
Pivotal penalty moment
He cites it as a pivotal moment as he said: “I'm the kind of guy who, on the pitch, I just do it. You can always miss, but at least you tried, so that was one of my attributes. If I fail, I fail. But if I don't try, then I’ve 100 per cent failed already. That's why I was really calm in situations of pressure. I’d say it all started with that penalty. I think it gave myself and the team and the club relief. Grif gave me the ball and I just said: okay, no problem, I'll just go and do what I do best, score. That gave me confidence that my team-mates trusted me in such a moment.”
With that composure and his hat-trick against Rangers, Celtic’s fans were starting to say wow. Dembele happily admits he was doing that himself from the minute he arrived into Glasgow to sign. And not just because of the Scottish summer weather as he laughed: “The first day I came to Glasgow, I think it was snowing. In the summer. I was not surprised by the size of Celtic. I knew about it. I knew about the Derby, of course. And Celtic were playing in the Champions League almost every year when I was younger, so I knew. But, when you see from outside, you don't really realise. Once you step inside the building, my first word was just: Wow. How massive it is. When I joined the team, we were in Slovenia on pre-season camp. Even there, we had fans who came and supported us. I got to know the lads, to fit into the group and then once we stepped into Glasgow I just realised wow. I had the staff and the players behind me, so they helped me out as well.”
Making a name at a giant club
Dembele had shone in Fulham’s Academy and progressed into the top-team, but moving to Scotland was, clearly, his moment and he was ready. He explained: “When I arrived end of that June, I was turning 20. And, when we played in Gibraltar and lost 1-0 on astroturf in the Champions League qualifier, that's the day I turned 20. To be fair, arriving was nice. Scottish people are very friendly, they welcome you in a good way, so you feel a part of everyone. The fact that I spoke English helped me a lot, but it took me around a week or 10 days to understand because obviously the accent is different. Now it’s fine. I’m with Jack Hendry here in Saudi and I’m the only one who understands him!”
“Why are my memories so good? I think because everything really started for me when I signed for Celtic. At Fulham I was young, going through the Academy and the first team and starting to learn the game. I did some good stuff there, but Celtic is a giant, it's one of the biggest clubs in the world, so going there was a big step for me. And coming as a young player, no-one really knew about me and I had to make a name for myself. To do it was really really special and that was one of the best parts of my career. I knew that I could do that since I was young. That was my dream, to play in a big club, to play in Champions League, to play in front of 60,000-odd fans. I would say that was a dream of everyone who loves football, playing in Paradise was fantastic. In Fulham, as I said, I was going through the academy, I knew that I had potential to do some great things, but as a young lad, you need to have confidence in yourself and it's not only my part. My agent and family and all the people around me are a big part of it, keeping me focused.”
Invincible Treble realisation
Dembele would deliver and so would the squad. In Rodgers’ first season, not just a Treble, but an Invincible Treble. Everyone who played a part in it will go down in folklore, yet the striker admits it was just a blur at the time. Dembele said: “I think we as players, the coaching staff and everyone, we didn't realise when everything was happening because everything is going fast. You have games every three days. One season finishes in Scotland and the next one starts we start really early because of the Champions League qualifiers. You don't really have the time to sit back and to look back on what you did the previous season. I think when I really realised what we did is when I left Celtic. That's when I really realised that it was a massive achievement as a player and as a team also. I remember it all like yesterday, although I’m not that old to forget!”
