Sold for £19.7m, Tottenham could have got Moussa Dembele for £6m

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French striker Moussa Dembele has left Celtic this week. The attacker headed back to his homeland, joining Lyon in a big-money deal. The fee involved is reported to be in the region of £19.7 million. Considering he arrived at the end of his contract with previous club Fulham, Celtic could easily see the transfer as good business.

But how will Tottenham Hotspur feel about all this?

Six months prior to his Celtic switch in 2016, it seemed Dembele was destined to join his namesake of Belgian heritage at White Hart Lane.  

It was reported by the Guardian at the time that Fulham pulled the plug on what would have been a £6 million deal. They wanted to keep him on loan until the end of the season. Spurs were having none of it and the result was a bitter end to the transfer negotiations.

So will Tottenham feel they missed out, seeing as Dembele has just moved on for over three times as much?

Probably not. Dembele had an excellent first season at Celtic. He scored 32 goals in 49 games including some excellent form in Europe.

But last season was a struggle. Niggling injury problems, the form of striking rivals and just some poor performances meant he managed just 16 goals in 39 games. That is a decent tally, but half of what he managed in 2016-17.

This season started well with three goals in six games but Tottenham will not be losing sleep because of his record last season. If he goes on to be a goal sensation in Ligue 1, then they might regret not bowing to Fulham’s requests in their failed £6 million pursuit.

But until then, Tottenham will still feel they made the right call with the young Frenchman.