‘Everything is behind us now’ – Former Celtic star reflects on Brendan Rodgers fallout

Dembele’s hugely successful two-year spell at Parkhead ended on a sour note in 2018 after a dispute over his future, with the Frenchman publicly hitting out at Rodgers before completing a move to Lyon.

Rodgers responded at the time by claiming Dembele had “crossed a line”, while the striker later appeared to take aim at his former manager when Rodgers left Celtic for Leicester City.

Both are now working in Saudi Arabia and, with the benefit of time, Dembele admits he would have preferred his memorable Celtic spell to have ended differently.

Dembele told the Daily Record: “It didn’t end the way at Celtic it was supposed to. If I could change something, I would change that. The part where I went out.

“But not on my side because when I first met Brendan in London, like one month before I signed for Celtic, the plan was really, really clear: Come here, work hard for two seasons and then, obviously, we will try to send you to a top-five league club.

“So, yeah, when the opportunity came, I was really disappointed because I felt like what’s been said hadn’t been delivered. And that’s what happened. But, you know, things happened. Everything is behind us now. Brendan’s been a massive, massive part of my career. He made me improve a lot as a player and as a man.

“We had an Invincible season, then we then made the Double Treble and he was a big part of it because he made a massive improvement of the squad. And obviously, we were playing much better football. Teams were scared of us.

“That’s the reality. A team would just come and say: Okay, today we try just not to lose, but not to lose like 3-0 or 4-0. Brendan was a big part of that.

“He is a fantastic manager. His record speaks for himself. I don’t need to say much about it. As I said, I didn’t want it to end like that at Celtic, but I think he also didn’t want it to end like that. I think it’s the same for both parties.

“But, like I mentioned, things happen in football careers. Sometimes you are in a different place, not on the same page and that’s not only football. That’s in life, too. You have to step back, to see the positives out of it and just to get on with it.

“Simple. I just played against him two weeks ago. We drew 2-2 against his team and, obviously, everything is now behind us. He wished us good luck for the season.”