CELTIC have rewarded 15-year-old sensation Karamoko Dembele with a full-time professional contract making him one of the youngest to be offered such a deal by the club.
Demeble, one of the most talked about players of his age in British football will stay at Celtic until at least 2021.
The London-born teenager, who has an Ivory Coast background, joined Celtic in 2013 aged 10 and famously made his Under-20's debut at just 13 when he came off the bench in a match against Hearts in October 2016.
Footage of his appearance went viral and while Brendan Rodgers wasn't pleased such a young player got so much recognition, the manager has found it impossible to play down his excitement about this talent.
Speaking to the official Celtic website, Dembele said: “It means a lot to me to start my professional career at Celtic. I came here at a young age, and, after all the stuff me and family have been through together, it’ll be good to make them proud.
"I’d like to say thank you to everyone, and I’d like to thank everyone for everything they’ve done for me," he said. "I’d also like to thank everyone for the training I’ve received, the discipline I’ve been taught, and the advice I’ve been given all the way.
"Getting attention at a young age has been hard, but I’ve obviously had my family to help me through that. You need to be strong mentally, you need to stay grounded, and you just need to get on with everything that you do on a daily basis.
"Seeing players come through the Academy and into the first team gives you hope, because you know they’ve taken the same path. That means you’ve got a chance to make it into the first team if you work hard and give it your all.
"My brother Siriki, who plays for Peterborough United, first taught me how to play football. I wasn’t always interested in football, but he brought me in and he helped me. He helps me in everything I do. If I have a bad game, he’ll talk to me and he’ll say, ‘don’t be down, keep your morale high’.”
“My goal is to play for the first team. As soon as I can, I’m going to try to get into the first team, 100 per cent. In the Reserves, every training session, every game – it’s all to prove myself to the manager that I can play in the first team.”
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