St Johnstone 2-5 Celtic: Hat-trick man Moussa Dembele happy to learn in Glasgow

Moussa Dembele says he is happy to continue his football education with Celtic despite being linked with Chelsea during January.

The 20-year-old striker scored a hat-trick in a 5-2 win over St Johnstone on his return from injury as a second-half substitute at McDiarmid Park.

Chelsea were reportedly considering a £40m offer for the Frenchman.

"I am happy to learn here and that's why I signed here," Dembele told BBC Scotland.

"I am learning at one of the biggest clubs and I'm enjoying it."

Dembele, who had missed Celtic's previous two games, has now scored 23 times for the Scottish Premiership leaders since his £500,000 summer move from Fulham.

Moussa Dembele scored a hat-trick to take his season's total to 23

Rumours that Dembele was in talks with Chelsea were fuelled when he was spotted on a flight to London on transfer deadline day.

Celtic insisted that he was travelling to see a knee specialist - close to Chelsea's Stamford Bridge stadium - regarding a recent injury.

And the Glasgow club also stressed that no official offer materialised from the Premier League leaders.

Dembele had responded to social media speculation on the day by tweeting a picture of himself in a Celtic strip and in the same pose as Leonardo Di Caprio in the movie Wolf Of Wall Street when his character proclaims he is not leaving his company after all.

Moussa Dembele's tweet before the transfer window closed

Following the win over St Johnstone, the striker reiterated that he had been in London "for my scan".

Dembele also insisted he had not been affected by Chelsea's alleged interest and said: "I don't really listen to the media. I'm a Celtic player and I'm happy to be here.

"I try to improve here and show people the player I am and that I'm happy to be here and I showed that today on the pitch."

Asked how long he was likely to remain at Celtic Park, Dembele replied: "I can't tell you that I will be here for 10 years or 20 years. I don't know."

Celtic had to come from 2-1 behind to beat St Johnstone, with Dembele equalising with a controversial penalty after referee Craig Thomson ruled that a Kieran Tierney cross had struck Keith Watson's arm.

The striker insisted that he had not been concerned about the possibility of his side losing their first domestic match of the season.

Gary Mackay-Steven was replaced with Moussa Dembele with 30 minutes remaining in Perth

"I know the quality of the team, so I know that, if we keep playing the way we have all season, we will beat St Johnstone," added Dembele.

"So, even when we were behind, I was confident.

"We showed good imagination, we played well and scored five goals, so it is good for us."