Celtic's Star Man Could Be Sidelined Until September & Will Miss European Qualifying Campaign

Celtic's star striker Moussa Dembele could be facing more time on the sidelines and not feature for the Hoops until early September according to boss Celtic boss Brendan Rodgers.

The 21-year-old French forward is currently nursing a hamstring injury and had to miss the latter part of season. Fellow striker Leigh Griffiths is currently suspended and recovering from a calf injury. Both players were out of action in Wednesday's Champion's League third qualifying round first leg against Norwegian side Rosenborg.

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On Dembele's estimated comeback Brendan Rogers commented: "It could be to the beginning of September. 

"It looks like Moussa may well be out for the whole of the campaign, this European [qualifying] campaign so we have to adapt.

"Throughout the course of the season, unfortunately for those players with that speed and strength, there are always hamstring niggles.

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"We saw it last year with Moussa. We saw it with James Forrest. We saw it with Scott Sinclair. We saw it with Patrick Roberts when Pat was here.

"We have to heal, work hard to get back as quick as he can, knowing that it's going to be a real long season for us."

The France U21 international is on the radar of a number of top clubs in Europe having scored 32 goals in his debut season for the Hoops after signing from Fulham in 2016.

With rumours of interest from French side Marseille, Rogers made it know that the club no plans to sell Dembele and stated: "He is a player we want to keep."

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Rogers is also hoping injured 26-year old striker Leigh Griffiths will be back in first-team action very soon. The Scottish forward has netted 85 times for Celtic since 2014 and before Wednesday's match Rogers said: "We're hoping that Leigh can come back at some point. 

"Leigh's suspended and he's injured. He hasn't trained all week.

"We've always been based around the collective and we're looking at that collective to find solutions for us."