MARK McGhee last night praised Celtic for giving 13-year-old Karamoko Dembele a game in their under-20 development team and predicted Scotland would benefit from more clubs handing gifted kids chances.
Dembele, an Ivorian whose family now lives in Govan, replaced Jack Aitchison with nine minutes of an under-20 development match at Cappielow remaining on Monday night and helped his team win 3-1.
The schoolboy, who sprang to prominence in the St. Kevin’s Boys Club tournament in Dublin in the summer, was handed his debut by Tommy McIntyre due to a number of players being away with the Scotland Under-19s.
However, McGhee, the Motherwell manager and Scotland assistant, believes the national game would improve if its leading clubs promoted more youngsters.
But he questioned whether Dembele, who is no relation of first team Parkhead striker Moussa, will remain in this country.
"I've not seen him, but I've heard our youth people talking about him,” he said. “He's supposed to be outstanding, fantastic.
“I gave Robbie Keane his debut at 16 (at Wolves), Emile Heskey his debut at 16 (at Leicester City) and I gave other people their debuts at a young age.
"If they're good enough, it doesn't matter, they're old enough. The quicker everybody brings these young players through the better for everyone.
"The Scottish game is not half as attractive to agents and players as other places. That's the game we live in.”
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