Karamoko Dembélé

Karamoko Kader Dembélé (born 22 February 2003) is a professional footballer who plays as a winger for Scottish Premiership club Celtic, and has been called up to represent both Scotland and England at youth level. He attracted media attention in October 2016 when he made his debut for Celtic's under-20 development team at the age of 13.

Karamoko Dembélé
Personal information
Full name Karamoko Kader Dembélé[1]
Date of birth (2003-02-22) 22 February 2003
Place of birth London, England
Height 1.67 m (5 ft 5 1⁄2 in)[2]
Position(s) Winger
Club information
Current team
 Celtic
Number 77
Youth career
2008–2014 Park Villa BC
2014–2019 Celtic
Senior career*
Years Team Apps (Gls)
2019– Celtic 4 (0)
National team‡
2016–2017 Scotland U16 8 (1)
2016–2017 England U15 3 (0)
2018 Scotland U17 2 (0)
2019– England U17 4 (1)
* Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only and correct as of 22:19, 11 January 2021 (UTC)
‡ National team caps and goals correct as of 22:45, 20 November 2019 (UTC)

Early life

Dembélé was born in 2003 in Lambeth, South London. His parents were born in Côte d'Ivoire. His family moved north to Scotland, to Govan in Glasgow, before his first birthday.[3] Dembélé, or "Kaddy" as he is known, attended St Constantine's Primary School in Drumoyne. He started at St Ninians High School Kirkintilloch in 2015. He was scouted before this and then started training with the Celtic Boys at St Ninians High School.[4]

Club career

Dembélé started playing football for Park Villa Boys Club at the age of five and was recognised as a prodigy from a young age.[5] He joined Celtic aged 10 in 2013.[6] In July 2016, Dembélé was named as player of the tournament when representing Celtic U13 at the St Kevin's Boys Academy Cup.[7] Soon after his appointment as Celtic head coach, Brendan Rodgers invited Dembélé to participate in a light technical training session with the first team squad.[8][9]

On 3 October 2016, Dembélé gained widespread media attention after making his debut for Celtic's Under-20 side aged 13 playing with and against players who were up to seven age groups above him.[10][11][12][13][14][15] He was named on the bench because several regular starters were away playing for Scotland's Under-19 team and was brought in during the 81st minute, replacing the youngest first-team player in Celtic's history, the 16-year-old Jack Aitchison.[16] A match report on the official Celtic website stated that "the diminutive playmaker didn't look out of place and played his part in the closing stages."[17] The response to Dembélé's U20 debut included concern about the physical and mental impact of such a young player being fast-tracked through the developmental ranks.[8][18][19][20][21] On 2 June 2017, Dembélé signed a youth registration contract to stay at Celtic.[22]

On 24 December 2018, Dembélé signed his first professional contract at 15-years-old with Celtic, set to keep him at the club until 2021.[23] In April 2019, he featured for Celtic's academy team in the seasonal finals of both the Scottish Youth Cup and the Glasgow Cup, losing out 3–2 to Rangers in the first[24] and beating the same opposition by the same scoreline in the second.[25]

Dembélé made his senior debut on 19 May 2019 in a 2–1 victory against Hearts, coming on as a second-half substitute. After the match, Dembélé collected his winners' medal and helped to lift the Scottish Premiership trophy as Celtic ended the season 9 points clear at the top of the league.[26] His performance was praised by manager Neil Lennon.[27] Six days later, he was named in the squad for the 2019 Scottish Cup Final, also against Hearts. This time he did not leave the bench, but collected a winner's medal following Celtic's 2–1 victory.[28] In October 2019, L'Équipe named Dembélé as one of six "outstanding young players set to revolutionise the game", a list that also included Barcelona's Ansu Fati.[29] On 12 December 2019, Dembélé became the youngest ever footballer to play for a Scottish team in European competition when he came on a substitute in Celtic's 2–0 loss away against Romanian side CFR Cluj.[30]

International career

Dembélé is eligible to represent Scotland, England or Côte d'Ivoire internationally.[3][31] On 19 October 2016, he was called up to the Scotland national under-16 football team for the 2016 Victory Shield.[32][33] He made his debut for the Scotland under-16s on 1 November, coming on as a second-half substitute during a 2–2 draw against Wales. Coach Brian McLaughlin commented, "He was excellent. He looked confident and it's a very good group to come into."[34] Dembélé made a further appearance a few days later in a 3–0 defeat as a 63rd minute substitute against the Republic of Ireland.[35]

However, prior to participating in the Victory Shield, Dembélé traveled south in October 2016 to train with England under-15s at St George's Park.[36] On 18 November 2016, Dembélé confirmed his intention to join up with the England under-15s ahead of a match against Turkey that December.[37] On 17 December 2016, Dembélé came off the bench against Turkey to make his England debut and assisted a goal in a 5–2 victory.[38][39] On 16 February 2017, Dembélé made his first start for England under-15 in a match against Belgium.[40]

Nevertheless, he also continued to represent Scotland, playing an integral part in the Scotland under-16 squads for two UEFA development tournaments in 2017, both of which Scotland won. Most notably Dembélé featured in a Scotland victory over England in July 2017.[41] On 19 August 2018 he made his debut for Scotland under-17's in a 1–0 away win against Russia coming on as a 50th minute substitution for Connor Barron and went on to start 2 days later against Russia.[42][43]

On 10 October 2019, Dembele made his debut for England under-17 during a 3–3 draw with Germany at the Pinatar Arena in Spain.[44] Dembele scored his first goal for this age group during a 1–1 draw with Spain on 14 October 2019.[45]

Personal life

Dembélé's older brother, Siriki Dembélé, plays as a winger for Peterborough United.[46] He is likewise eligible to represent England, Scotland or Côte d'Ivoire internationally.[31] Another brother, Hassan, was playing for Celtic's academy in November 2017.[47] Their sister, Macoula, studied law and was signed to a Scottish modelling agency.[48]

Career Statistics
Club League Season League Scottish Cup League Cup Europe Total
AppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoals
Celtic Scottish Premiership 2018–19 1000000010
2019–20 1000001020
2020–21 2000000020
Career total 4000000050

Honours

Celtic

    References
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    2. "K. Dembélé". Soccerway. Retrieved 4 January 2020.
    3. Pattullo, Alan (5 October 2016). "Scotland call for Celtic 'wonderkid' Karamoko Dembele". The Scotsman. Retrieved 20 October 2016.
    4. Burlaga, Kate (12 October 2016). "Karamoko Dembele: the lowdown on Celtic's 13-year-old prodigy". Sky Sports. Retrieved 21 October 2016.
    5. "Coach reveals some incredible facts about Celtic's Karamoko Dembele". 5 October 2016.
    6. "Watch Celtic youngster Karamoko Dembele dazzle with tricks and flicks on debut". 20 May 2019.
    7. Kyle, Gregor (5 August 2016). "Karamoko Dembele – is this the next Celtic star in the making?". Glasgow Live. Retrieved 20 October 2016.
    8. Parks, Gordon (14 October 2016). "Brendan Rodgers reveals even he didn't know Karamoko Dembele would run out for Celtic U20 side". Daily Record. Retrieved 20 October 2016.
    9. "Scott Brown hails Celtic starlet Karamoko Dembele". Sky Sports. 7 October 2016. Retrieved 20 October 2016.
    10. McCafferty, Gavin (4 October 2016). "Celtic: Karamoko Dembele plays for Under-20s side at the age of 13". The Independent. Retrieved 20 October 2016.
    11. Young, Henry (4 October 2016). "Karamoko Dembele: Who is Celtic's 13-year-old prodigy?". CNN International. Retrieved 20 October 2016.
    12. Young, Graeme (5 October 2016). "Celtic starlet Karamoko Dembele makes Under-20 debut at the age of 13". Daily Record. Retrieved 20 October 2016.
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