John Hartson has insisted that Karamoko Dembele’s first team debut wasn’t a gimmick.
The 16-year-old winger arrived on the pitch at half-time in the 2-1 win over Hearts and made a big impression despite the hype and expectations on his shoulders.
Since making a Development League appearance as a 13-year-old the spotlight has been on Dembele who signed a two year professional contract just before Christmas.
Every major club in Europe has been watching Dembele develop with Hartson keeping a close eye on him and an ear to the ground.
Lots of kids have been hyped up as the next big thing through youth football but Hartson believes that the 16-year-old has already earned the full respect of Celtic’s first team squad.
In the Evening Times the Welshman explained:
I’ll be interested to see whether Dembele goes with the first-team during pre-season. He has been training with them and I’m told holding his own against seasoned pros.
Now, you might not think that a 5ft 3 kid and I had anything in common. However, I was not as lot older when I made my debut for Luton Town, I was 17, so I know what it’s like to be so young coming into a very adult world.
I was fearless. I thought I could take on the world and couldn’t wait to get out there and show everyone what I could so. I bet the wee man was like that on Sunday.
Now, he is 16. We can’t get too excited, says a man with a column about him, because he’s really only starting out.
But I can see him playing more first-team games next season. Lenny didn’t put him on as a gimmick. He deserved to be there.
Dembele showed great maturity in his first 45 minutes of senior football. His team-mates were keen to get him on the ball because they know how good he is.
Hartson made his first team debut for Luton as a 17-year-old, two years later he became the most expensive teenager in British football when he joined Arsenal for a fee of £2.5m.
