Celtic have rejected a bid from Gillingham to take Karamoko Dembele on loan.
The 16-year-old made his second substitute appearance of the season on Saturday when he came off the bench against Ross County.
Developing Karamoko through from child superstar to first team football is a tough task but a move to the lower reaches of English football has been ruled out.
Jack Aitchison is on loan at Forest Green Rovers but for now Celtic are keeping Karamoko in-house with Neil Lennon hoping that he can give the young winger more game time before the end of this season.
The Daily Record reports:
Celtic have knocked back an ambitious bid from Gillingham to take Karamoko Dembele on loan. The Gills boss made a move to try and land the young protégé for the second half of the season.
Hoops sources feel that Dembele is better served remaining and training with the Hoops rather than being exposed to a spell south of the border.
Gillingham boss Steve Evans knows Dembele well as he worked with his brother Sirki at Peterborough and hoped that might swing the move but the Premiership champions are adamant he is going nowhere.
Karamoko played in reserve matches at Chelsea and Huddersfield in the last 10 days with those matches certain to have been well scouted.
From his earliest days the England youth cap has been used to physical treatment but League One at this stage in his career could be a step too far.