Karamoko Dembele fulfils Celtic prophecy as Nostradamus prediction spectacularly pays off

Red-hot Karamoko Dembele is basking in the glow of a standout season after landing a stunning hat-trick of player of the year awards with Blackpool.

The 21-year-old has come alive with the Seasiders – on loan from Stade Brest – and his eight goals and 14 assists paved the way to securing players' player, supporters' player and junior Seasiders' man of the campaign. Blackpool appear set to narrowly miss out on a League One playoff spot but the exploits of the former Parhead academy standout have been a bright spot.

Dembele struggled to live up to the gargantuan hype which followed making his debut for Celtic's U20s at the age of 13. The former Scotland and England youth international made 10 appearances in green and white before joining Brest in 2022. And the move to link up with Blackpool under Neil Critchley's leadership has proved an inspired one. With Dembele thrilling fans with his exploits.

And Critchley – who was with Steven Gerrard at Aston Villa when it went haywire – showed an uncanny knack for predicting the future last year when he called for calm and sensed all Dembele needed was patience and perseverance. Speaking back in October, Critchley said: "If you look at his pathway and his development, his career and the games he has played, he's not played loads or had many starts. It's not been consistent where he's churning out 90 minutes every game, you have to understand where he's at and help him on that.

"You have to help him build up that side of his game, that's the journey of a young player. He's 20 and the next step for him now is to start playing and start games on a more consistent basis and try to finish games as well. It's not going to be right away from minute one where he's going to play 90