PSG v Celtic: Moussa Dembele tipped to become one of world's best strikers

Brendan Rodgers expects Moussa Dembele to "go the top"

Brendan Rodgers has worked with some of the best strikers in the world and believes the "outstanding" Moussa Dembele is heading in that direction.

Celtic face Paris St-Germain on Wednesday - the French club where the 21-year-old striker started his career.

Rodgers believes that fact might provide him with "great motivation" for the Champions League match.

"I believe he has the talent and the qualities to go right to the very, very top," said the Celtic manager.

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"I've seen a big development in him as a young man and as a player and I really expect him over the coming years to develop and improve and go on to become one of the world's best strikers.

"In my coaching life and in my managerial career, I've been involved in some top talents, especially at that end of the field, and I certainly think he's on course to be up there with the best strikers because he has all those attributes.

'Strategy behind his career'

"He has that self belief, but he's still very young."

Dembele joined PSG's youth set-up as an eight year old, spending another eight years being developed by the French side.

But, as a teenager, he left for England for Championship club Fulham. An inspired move, according to his current manager.

"What I've been really impressed with Moussa and his agent is the strategy behind his career," Rodgers told BBC Scotland.

Dembele missed Celtic's 5-0 defeat by PSG in September through injury

"He progressed really well for those years in the formative stage of his young professional career."

In the 2015-16 season, Dembele proved a prolific goalscorer for Fulham, scoring 17 times and catching the eye of Celtic.

"He decided to come to Celtic because he felt it was going to be the best stage for him to go and develop," said Rodgers.

"He wanted to come to a club where he could experience pressure - he's playing in front of 60-odd thousand every other week - and where he could play in a team where they have dominance, because if you play for the big teams and the big clubs, they are teams of dominance, so they have the ball.

"So it's understanding your movement patterns and how you play there in a big team - how you deal with pressure and, of course, to become a winner."

With Dembele back in Paris, Rodgers is expecting others to sit up and take note - not least his national coach.

"He's shown it for the French Under-21's and I'm sure Didier Deschamps and his staff will be looking at him, the next step for him, which I believe will be into the full national team," the Celtic manager added.

"But he's a big talent and he's developing very, very well."

Both manager and player will be looking for Dembele to perform well on French soil against a team who Rodgers believes "have a chance of winning the Champions League".

Brendan Rodgers believes Paris Saint-Germain can win the Champions League this season