Moussa Dembele is reportedly set to make a transfer to English top flight side–Brighton–in the January transfer window. According to information made available to Sky Sports by sources close to the deal,  an £18m fee for the France Under 21 International has been accepted by Celtic with only a few details remaining to be sorted out before the deal can be made official.
In his pre match press conference ahead of Brighton’s visit to Chelsea on Boxing Day, Brighton’s Manager–Chris Hughton– admitted to the press that Dembele is a player who fits the Club profile and one he would love to have in his team.
In an interview with a Sky Sports correspondent,  Hughton said:”He’s a very good player who has had a very good season. He is not our player he just happens to be one of probably 100 names you could mention that I probably would [want]”
The Seagulls boss, stopping short of completely accepting that a transfer was in the pipeline, refused to distance the Club from the speculations and this has further lent credence to the news.
“But he’s not our player and neither is anybody else that might be thrown into the mix”,The Coach said.
Dembele, who is still yet to be fully capped at International level by France,  has been a revelation since joining Scottish Champions, Celtic, following the expiry of his contract with Fulham 18 months ago.
The 21-year-old came through the ranks at Paris Saint-Germain and joined Fulham in 2012. He made his first-team debut a year later, coming on as a substitute in a 3-0 Premier League defeat at West Ham.
Dembele scored 19 goals in 64 appearances for Fulham before joining Celtic on a four-year contract in June 2016.
The striker made 49 appearances in all competitions during his first season with the Hoops and scored 32 goals before his campaign was curtailed by a thigh injury.
The Frenchman is widely seen as one of Europe’s most gifted young strikers and following strings of top notch performances for Celtic last season, he was the subject of a huge bid from Premier League Champions–Chelsea–in January, as the Blues sought a replacement for former striker,Costa, whose stay with the Club was uncertain following a head turning offer from China. Costa had ultimately stayed back,  forcing the Blues to abandon Dembele pursuit.
Dembele missed the start of this season due to a hamstring injury but since his return has scored eight goals in 19 appearances.