Moussa Dembele has backed his former Parkhead strike partner Odsonne Edouard to hit new heights with Celtic.
The Frenchman keeps close tabs on his old club since his £20m to Lyon in August 2018.
Dembele admitted he wished he could have linked up with Edouard earlier but he is convinced his pal has the tools to get to the top.
He said: “The only bad point is that we didn’t play together earlier. We knew that if we played together we’d do something good. When he first came, he was a bit shy.
“Because we come from the same place, I tried to help him, I gave him a lot of advice and after that he changed, from one player to another.
“Odsonne is a very very good player, he will go straight to the top. I think we saw what he was capable of this season. He’s a fantastic player, a player that I rate and hopefully he’ll go to the very top with Celtic. I wish him only good luck.”
Dembele insists he’s a Celt for life after two memorable seasons in Scotland.
The hit man was a smash his as the Hoops claimed back-to-back Trebles under Brendan Rodgers and Parkhead will always be in his heart.
Dembele said: “Before I came, Celtic was just a big club. But once you step in, you realise that it’s more than a football club. It made me grow as a player, as a man and made me see things differently from what I’ve seen before.
“I think it was a really good experience. I wouldn’t change it for anything. I’m a fan now. I follow every game because it was two fantastic years.
“It is the greatest club in the world.”
Dembele has been in storming form with Lyon but admitted he missed the mayhem of the Glasgow Derby.
The 23-year-old rattled a hat trick in his Old Firm debut and became a chief Rangers tormentor with seven goals in two campaigns.
Dembele – speaking to BT Sport – said: “As soon as I signed for Celtic, the first thing they said is ‘you have to beat Rangers’. It’s a six or nine point game so you have to make sure, when you go on the pitch, you give it your everything: if you have to come off the pitch injured, you do it.
“I think that’s one of the best games I’ve played in in my whole career.”
Watch Nine in a Row, a look back on Celtic’s 2019/20 season, Saturday at 9:45pm on BT Sport 1.
