Brendan Rodgers is optimistic about a young player’s chance of breaking through. Classic Brendan, that.
The Celtic manager predicted big things for “the young boy (Jamie) Vardy” earlier this year.
Vardy was 29-years-old.
Brendan wasn’t exactly wrong, but he is prone to hyperbole.
This is a man who said: “I’ve always said that you can live without water for many days, but you can’t live for a second without hope.”
And he meant it.
So, he probably isn’t your go to man if you want to dampen down expectations. Brendan’s an optimist, and he’s predicting very big things for Celtic’s 13-year-old wonderkid.
Karamoko Dembele has been attracting a lot of attention in recent months.
The youngster made his debut for Celtic’s U20 side back in October, despite not turning 14 until February, and is at the centre of a tug of war between the Scottish and English Football Associations.
He has played for both Scotland and England at underage level in recent months, and might be playing for Celtic’s first-team soon, according to Rodgers.
“Karamoko’s played for Scotland, he’s played for England and he can actually play for the Ivory Coast as well,” Rodgers told talkSPORT.
“He’s 14 in February, he’s a big talent and just needs the time to be nurtured and developed.
“But it won’t be long. If he keeps going the way he is going, he could be one of those boys who is in the team at a very young age. It’s nice for him.
“He’s enjoying his football, he gets looked after very well here at Celtic, he and the coaches have a great trust. We hope in the next number of years he could be the next one coming through.”
Most managers would try dampen down expectations around a talented young player, but not Rodgers.
In fairness, the lad looks like he has the potential to be a brilliant player. Hopefully he continues his development and Rodgers is proved correct.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mr9AicDp5Uo
