Football
Ian Holyman, France correspondent 6y

Celtic's Moussa Dembele distances himself from Lyon transfer

Celtic forward Moussa Dembele appeared to distance himself from reports that he is on the verge of a move to Lyon in a pair of Twitter posts.

Dembele is reported to be the seven-time French champions' main transfer target following the departure of Mariano Diaz to Real Madrid.

Reports in France said he had agreed personal terms, with his omission from Celtic's Europa League playoff second leg on Thursday taken as a sign that the 22-year-old was on his way .

But the Paris Saint-Germain youth academy product took to Twitter in the early hours of Friday morning to suggest he had promised that he will not leave.

"A man without his word is nothing. A real man keeps his word," one tweet said, followed by another that read: "A lie has many variations, the truth none."

Under it, a message to Celtic fans said: "Don't get it wrong Bhoys and Ghirls, nothing to do with people who really care about the club, too much love and respect for you and the crest."

Lyon remain hopeful that Dembele, who has scored 51 goals in 94 appearances for Celtic, will move to France.

"It's very complicated with Celtic," club president Jean-Michel Aulas told RMC on Thursday. "We will make sure to negotiate well tonight and tomorrow, the last day of the summer transfer window.

"We hope that common sense will prevail and that we will have a new player tomorrow to end this transfer window."

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