Celtic: New signing Moussa Dembele wants Champions League football

Moussa Dembele has signed a four-year deal with Celtic

Moussa Dembele turned down offers from other clubs to join Celtic because he wants to "win trophies and play in the Champions League".

The French striker, 19, was a free agent after leaving Fulham at the end of last season.

Dembele had a number of clubs to choose from, but was convinced to opt for Celtic after a talk with manager Brendan Rodgers.

"It's the best place for me to be," Dembele said.

The move had been on his mind since last January, when the club first made an approach.

"A few [offers were on the table], but not the same as I had with Celtic in terms of football," Dembele said.

"I think about it since January, but I had a few other options. I took my time and looked at all the options.

"I came to Celtic to improve. I was in the Championship and I've come to the Scottish Premiership and I see my future here. Hopefully I can score a lot of goals for the club and win many trophies.

"I signed for Celtic because it's massive club in Europe and I want to play in the Champions League.

Dembele scored 17 goals for Fulham last season

"[Rodgers] told me about the club, everything about what he wants to do with me in the future. I was happy with that, Brendan is a very big manager and I can't wait to work with him.

"When you have a manager like Brendan who talks to you about the club and who convinces you to come, it's a massive thing."

Dembele, who will fly out today to join the Celtic squad in pre-season training in Slovenia, almost moved to Tottenham Hotspur during the January transfer window, but the deal fell through.

Champions League dream

The France under-20 international kept abreast of developments in Scottish football, though, because of Celtic's ongoing interest, and spoke to his Fulham teammate and Scotland international Ross McCormack about the club.

He has talked about Celtic with Patrick Roberts, who is on loan at the club from Manchester City, having previously played alongside Dembele at Fulham.

"I'm looking forward to playing with Patrick," Dembele said. "We had a good time at Fulham and hopefully we can do the same here.

"Last season I watched a lot of Scottish football. I know the club well, it's one of the biggest clubs in Europe and I can't wait to start.

"As a young boy you always dream to play in the Champions League. We have a chance this season and it's up to us to win the qualifiers.

"I'm 100% ready to give everything I have for the club and the fans. I want to score goals, I'm a striker. I want to win trophies, because Celtic is a club that wins trophies."