MOUSSA Dembele was undaunted by making his debut against Rangers in front of just shy of 60,000 people at Parkhead at the tender age of just 20 at the start of this season.

So, it is little surprise the speculation – some of it wild and uninformed, but much of it bang on the money – about which clubs are interested in signing him and how much they are prepared to pay to secure his services hasn’t fazed the Celtic player.

The French striker has reacted to the stories about supposed multi-million pound bids for him from Europe’s big guns in much the same way as he does to a late tackle from a frustrated defender – with a shrug and a smile.

The focus which will be on Dembele when the fourth Glasgow derby of the season kicks off at noon tomorrow as a result of his success in the fixture this term – he has netted in all three games so far and plundered a total of five goals – is unlikely to have a detrimental impact on his personal showing.

Asked what constantly being linked with some of the most glamorous clubs on the continent felt like, Dembele said: “It feels good, but I don’t really follow the news. I don’t really look at the rumours, I just focus on my football.

“Am I worth £40 million? I don’t know. A price is a price. I can’t tell you I’m worth £40 million or £50 million or £30 million or £20 million. I just concentrate on my game. But it feels great because it means I am not doing bad.

“I just have to keep going and training hard. If people talk about a change in price tags or whatever, it means we have done a great job, myself and the club. We just need to keep going forward.”

Focusing only on his game and ignoring the chatter about his next destination has certainly served Dembele well so far this season. He took his tally to 32 with his close-range strike against St Mirren in the Scottish Cup quarter-final last Sunday and is on course to better the 40 goals team-mate Leigh Griffiths reached last term.

Dembele and his Celtic team mates, undefeated in their 34 domestic appearances to date, will go into the Rangers match tomorrow brimming with confidence. He will feed off the success which he has enjoyed against his side’s city rivals, in the first game in particular.

The jury was, despite scoring in Champions League qualifiers against Astana and Hapoel Be’er Sheva, still out on the forward before that match back in September. But he wrote his name in the history books with a hat-trick in a resounding 5-1 victory.

“I have had some good performances this season so I can’t really look and say which one was the best,” he said. “But that was the day when my Celtic really took off. It all started from that day, so I will always remember it.”