Newcastle were looking at Karamoko Dembele before he joined Scottish side Celtic, according to his former boys club coach. The 13 year old made his debut for Celtic’s Under 20 side on Monday night in a 3-1 win over Hearts.
Talking to the Scottish Daily Mail, Peter Paton, who coached Dembele as an 8 year old for Govan-based Park Villa boys club, said that Newcastle scouts were already looking at the teen sensation back then when he used to run rings around his opponents and score a hatful of goals. Paton said he was so good that he had to find ways of making it fairer for the other kids.
“I remember him getting player of the tournament in a competition in Crosshouse at the age of eight and Newcastle scouts were sniffing all around him. He scored so many goals for us I had to put him in left-back but the wee toe-rag would still take the whole team on and score more goals.”
Dembele was playing seven years above his age group when he came on as a substitute for Celtic on Monday. The question will now be whether the player, who was born in the Ivory Coast, can handle the hype, and develop his game whilst playing agaist players who are much taller and stronger than he is.
