Dylan Batubinsika has admitted he blasted Moussa Dembele for joining Celtic back when he had the likes of Chelsea interested in his signature. The Royal Antwerp defender praised Dembele for his successful “career plan”, as he’d always set out to join a big European club in gradual stages.

Calling the striker “risky”, Batubinsika felt his childhood friend may have made a mistake in joining Celtic, but Dembele’s time at Parkhead was a success after scoring and creating 69 goals in 94 games in all competitions and now he’s on fire at Olympique Lyonnais.

Batubinsika said to L’Equipe (h/t The Sun): “Everything he did from the beginning was risky but his most bizarre decision was Celtic. I told him, ‘You have Chelsea on you and you go to Celtic’ But he knew. He has a career plan, he reflects on it all. He had his idea in mind, no matter what people might think.”

Dembele’s career started at Paris Saint-Germain. He joined Fulham’s academy in 2012 and rose through the youth ranks to the first-team in 2014. The 22-year-old went on to make 64 appearances, contributing 28 goals, before making the switch to Celtic in 2016.

He won two Scottish Premiership titles, two Scottish Cups and two Scottish League Cups before Lyon paid nearly £20m for the French u21 international. And now Dembele has scored four goals in nine games for the Ligue 1 outfit. Things are definitely going well in his career, and clearly he’s achieving the goals he set for himself.

Stats from Transfermarkt.