'Fantastic' - Blackpool boss gives glowing verdict on former Celtic prodigy

Karamoko Dembele has already had to deal with a lot in his life after he celebrated his 21st birthday last week. 

Dembele arrived at Bloomfield Road with much hype surrounding him from his breakthrough at Celtic. He was playing for their under-20s at 13-years-old and from then he was put under the spotlight. 

An international tug-of-war ensued between England and Scotland, and he played for both countries at various age-grade levels. 

At 16-years-old he made his debut under Neil Lennon, but not many first-team appearances came after that and he would be limited to just 10 matches at the Glasgow club. 

It was decided that in 2022 after nine years he’d move to French club Brest. Dembele played 17 times for them last season and then he was loaned to Blackpool last summer.

He has played more football than he ever has during his carer during his time at Blackpool. He's played a total of 34 games and has been influential to the club's promotion push with 11 assists and six goals. 

Reflecting on how the loan has gone so far, his current manager Neil Critchley said: “He’s been fantastic to work with. This is his first proper season of playing game after game. 

"Ninety minutes Saturday-Tuesday. He’s played more minutes than he’s ever played in his whole career. 

“You have to manage that as well, it’d be unrealistic for him to play every single minute of every game even though we want him to be on the pitch and contributing. 

“You also have to manage him a little bit because he’s a brilliant boy, he’s been fantastic for us, and hopefully he’ll play a big part in what we want to do between now and the end of the season. He wants to learn and we love having him in.”

Dembele is used to delivering on the pitch for Blackpool this season but when he had to bring in treats for the coaching staff and teammates, he was slightly off the mark with not everyone liking his choice of confectionery. 

“The cakes that he brought in were a shocking selection I’ve got to be honest,” joked Critchley.

“He took an absolute hammering for that. That was a really poor selection from himself.”

And how has Dembele’s form gone down with his parent club? Brest are enjoying themselves at the minute with them currently second and on course for a Champions League spot. They’ve kept a close eye on Dembele’s progress at Blackpool this season. 

Critchley added: “That’s left to people around me and we have constant communication with those clubs. You can’t fail to be impressed by Kaddy’s contribution this season.”