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Celtic is the best place for me to be, insists Dembele

SoccerNews in Scottish Premier League 29 Jun 2016

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Moussa Dembele admits the prospect of playing in the Champions League – along with the words of Brendan Rodgers – convinced him to sign for Celtic.

The forward penned a four-year deal with the Scottish champions on Tuesday, in the process becoming Rodgers’ first signing since taking charge.

Dembele, who was out of contract at Fulham, is excited about the opportunity to appear in Europe’s premier club competition with his new side, even if they do have to negotiate three rounds of qualifying to make the group stages.

Celtic have been drawn to face either Flora Tallinn or Lincoln Red Imps in the second qualifying round, with the first leg of that tie to take place on July 12 or 13.

“I had a few offers but I didn’t have the same one I had with Celtic in terms of football,” he told Sky Sports.

“I signed for Celtic because it’s a massive club in Europe. I want to play in the Champions League and I think I can do this here. It would be special.

“As a young boy you always dream of playing in the Champions League. We have a chance to do that this season. It’s up to us, we have to win the qualifiers.”

Frenchman Dembele was also persuaded to move to Scotland by Rodgers, who is back in club management again following his departure from Liverpool in October 2015. 

“When you have a manager like Brendan who talks to you about the club and who convinces you to come, it’s a massive thing,” he said.

“He told me about the club, about what he wanted to do with me in the future, and I was happy with that. Brendan is a very big manager and I can’t wait to work with him.”

Meanwhile, Celtic have handed a two-year contract extension to Joe Thomson and allowed Michael Duffy to join Premiership rivals Dundee on a season-long loan deal.

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