Scottish Gossip: Moussa Dembele, Scotland, Keith Lasley, Partick Thistle

FOOTBALL GOSSIP

Brendan Rodgers says there is "no chance" of Celtic selling Moussa Dembele in the next few years. When a value of £15m was suggested to him, the Celtic manager quipped that that amount would be for just his left toe. (Various)

The Celtic boss believes 20-year-old Frenchman Dembele can be as good as former Chelsea favourite Didier Drogba. (Various)

Rodgers reckons that Celtic would represent a "massive, massive" threat to clubs in England and that is why there is no immediate prospect of them joining the English leagues. The Northern Irishman thinks Celtic would be "minimum top six" in the Premier League. (Various)

Manchester City boss Pep Guardiola believes the two last-16 qualification places for Champions League Group C will not be decided until the final round of matches. City host Celtic in the final round of ties. (Various)

Barry Ferguson says with regret that he knows what it's like to create a media frenzy around the national football team

Ex-Scotland manager Berti Vogts tells his former club Borussia Monchengladbach that they will lose if they they treat Celtic lightly in their Champions League matches. "I can assure them, the atmosphere at Celtic will be nothing that any Borussia player has seen before," he warns. (Various)

Former Celtic, Arsenal and Aberdeen striker Charlie Nicholas claims there are three special places to experience big European atmospheres - Celtic Park, Anfield and at Borussia Dortmund. (Daily Record)

Former Scotland captain Barry Ferguson thinks there will be "absolute turmoil" in the England camp following manager Sam Allardyce's departure. (Daily Record)

Lithuania head coach Edgaras Jankauskas, himself a former Hearts player, has included other ex-Jambos in his squad to play Scotland and Malta - Arvydas Novikovas and Deividas Cesnauskis. However, Saulius Mikoliunas has once again been overlooked. (Scotsman)

Keith Lasley will play his 464th game for Motherwell on Friday evening, as he eyes 500 appearances for the Steelmen

Former Scotland goalie Alan Rough urges national team manager Gordon Strachan to "unleash" Oliver Burke on Lithuania to show the fans what he can do. (Daily Record)

Partick Thistle boss Alan Archibald says his players are not going to Ibrox at the weekend "to take selfies". He hopes that if Thistle can keep Rangers quiet in the early part of the match then Ibrox will become a less intimidating stadium. (Sun, Daily Mail)

As Motherwell prepare to host Hearts on Friday evening's televised match, Well skipper Keith Lasley, 37, says he relishes such occasions all the more at this late stage of his career. (Various)

Hearts goalkeeper Jack Hamilton reveals that his parents thought he was kidding them on when he told them he had been called up to the Scotland squad in May for the end-of-season friendlies against France and Italy. Hamilton was the back-up keeper at Tynecastle at the time. (Scotsman)

Rangers manager Mark Warburton says he was visited by a Fleet Street sports writer who was "staggered" at the 20 pages dedicated to the match against Aberdeen. "But that's Glasgow," said the Ibrox boss. "It's a goldfish bowl and it takes some getting used to." (Various)

Accies' Eamonn Brophy was released by Celtic who thought he was too small to make the grade

The Scottish Football Association is to appeal against Uefa's decision to award a 3-0 win to Serbia Women's Under-19 team after the Scotland team were unable to fulfil the fixture in Albania. The SFA says the Scots were suffering from acute gastroenteritis. (National, Times)

Derek McInnes declares himself happy at the level of competition for places that now exists for his Aberdeen team. "There is no point putting a squad together and not using it," he asserts. (Times)

Rangers are baffled that the SFA's disciplinary panel did not mention the alleged attacks on their players by Hibernian supporters in the aftermath of the Scottish Cup final. (National)

Eamonn Brophy says joining Hamilton four years ago from Celtic was the "best thing" that has happened to him. He has now made 50 appearances for the Accies after Celtic released him because they felt he was too small. (Daily Record)

Eighteen-year-old Norwegian Kristoffer Ajer could be sent out on loan from Celtic in January to gain first-team experience, says his agent Tore Pedersen. (Daily Express)

OTHER GOSSIP

Paul Lawrie has been laid low by a virus, preventing him from performing his duties as vice-captain for the European team at the Ryder Cup in Minnesota. (Scotsman)

Eilidh Doyle says the reaction of people back home to her winning an Olympic bronze medal in the relay has lifted her mood about her performance in the individual 400m hurdles. She hopes schoolchildren will be inspired to take up a sport when they try on her medal. (Herald)

Gregor Townsend is wary of the physical threat posed by Newport Gwent Dragons as he takes his Glasgow Warriors team to Wales on Pro12 business. (Herald)