Karamoko Dembele thanks Celtic supporters in Instagram farewell message

By David Walton

July 5, 2022

Karamoko Dembele has thanked the Celtic fans for their support as his 13-year stay at Parkhead came to an end.

Dembele has officially moved to Brest after his contract in Glasgow expired this summer. It makes for an anti-climactic ending to a Celtic career that promised so much when the young winger was rising through the ranks.

However, Karamoko would only go on to make 10 first-team appearances before making his switch to Ligue 1 [Transfermarkt]. And below, he penned the following message on Instagram as he said farewell to the Hoops:

In the official Brest announcement, Karamoko stated that he was sold on the project and that he believed he would get plenty of first-team minutes with his new club.

It looked as though the wingeer would break into the Celtic first-team last summer aftef featuring in several pre-season matches under Ange Postecoglou. However, an ankle injury broke up his momentum with only 2 cameo appearances to his name throughout the 2021/22 campaign.

His new start in Ligue 1, however, sees him take a big step into one of Europe’s top leagues. It’ll be fascinating to see what kind of impact he makes in France.

Karamoko Dembele ready to make waves after swapping Celtic for Brest

Credit to the youngster for his goodbye message. It’s important to acknowledge how much work and faith Celtic placed in his development over the years.

There will be disappointment from within the club and the supporters over the fact we won’t reap the benefits of that development. However, Dembele was perfectly entitled to make the decision he believed was best for his career.

There was no guarantee of first-team minutes at Celtic Park this season in any case. Liel Abada, Jota, James Forrest, and Daizen Maeda would all have had something to say about that. Competition for places is strong at Parkhead, and evidently Dembele didn’t see the same first-team opportunities arriving for him in Glasgow.

Even so, it’s always sad to see a player of his potential go. Whether he was ready for first-team integration this season or not is up for debate. But it’s clear there’s major talent in Karamoko waiting to break out.

At Brest, he arrives at a side that will have aspirations of a top-half finish in Ligue 1 next season. Should he manage to impress and catch the eye of rivals dureing his time there, his next move could be blockbuster. That was likely part of his thinking in heading to France to begin with.

All we can do is wish him all the best and hope to see him back at Celtic Park some day in the future. He certainly has an exciting period ahead of him.

In other news, Report: Artur Boruc could play for Celtic one final time in Legia friendly