Moussa Dembele was born in Pointoise on 12 July 1996 (age 30) and came through in England with Fulham before Celtic moved for him in July 2016. The fee, around £500,000, was modest enough to look almost quaint now, but at the time it was a sharp bit of business rather than a certainty.
At Celtic, Dembele gave the side a proper centre-forward presence: strong, direct, and capable of finishing without much ceremony. His two years in Glasgow were enough to make him more than a passing name, and they also turned him into a serious asset. In August 2018, he left for Lyon for around £20m.
Lyon was where his career settled at a higher level. His most productive league season came in 2021-22, when he scored 21 goals in 30 appearances, a return that showed the move from Scotland had not simply been about potential.
Dembele later moved on to Al-Ettifaq, where he remains primarily a striker. In 2026-27, he has scored three goals in six Pro League appearances. His career has taken him from Fulham to Celtic, then Lyon and Saudi Arabia, with that Celtic spell still an important early marker in how he became established.
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