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Just a few days ago Celtic’s Karamoko Dembele was merely the club’s “other Dembele”. Even when he made his debut for the Hoops’ U-20s against Hearts last Wednesday - as a substitute in the 81st minute - he was still second fiddle to first-teamer Moussa Dembele, the recent scorer of a spectacular brace against Manchester City in Champions League play.
But the younger Dembele, just 13 years of age and dwarfed in size by many of his reserve-side teammates, is already more than just a social media sensation. His parents, who emigrated to the United Kingdom from the Ivory Coast, settled initially in London before moving to Glasgow. With a bag of tricks in his arsenal, the youngster is already being wooed by the national teams of both England and Scotland.
Meanwhile, sports bookmaker Ladbrokes was forced to apologize last week for taking bets on when the lad would make his debut for the Celtic first team. Despite the fact Karamoko can’t sign his first official professional contract until he turns 17, he is reportedly already being scouted by both Manchester City and Manchester United, who are clearly impressed with his highlight-reel skills.
Watch as young 13-year-old Karamoko Dembele looks like a man among boys for Celtic’s youth development squad.
It’s worth noting that Dembele is merely the latest youth sensation to rise up through Celtic’s ranks. Ironically, the player he replaced in that U-20 match, Jack Aitchisson, is the youngest player to ever represent the senior Celtic team in a competitive match at 16 years and 71 days. Also, youth set-up graduate Kieran Tierney is already a first-team regular at 19 and is on the radar of a number of top European clubs.
