Chelsea have reportedly cooled their interest in Celtic striker, Moussa Dembele, potentially giving Arsenal more of a chance to sign the former Fulham star.

Since Dembele’s move to Celtic in 2016, the 21-year-old has scored 40 goals in 70 appearances across all competitions. And the Frenchman’s rapid rise hasn’t gone unnoticed, with Arsenal, Chelsea, Brighton, Everton, West Ham and Stoke all previously said to be keeping tabs on the youngster.

However, one Premier League club has reportedly now dropped out of the race: Chelsea.

Celtic are allegedly demanding £40m for Dembele, who has until May 2020 on his contract with the Scottish side. This is apparently too much, even for Chelsea, and the Blues have pulled out of the running and turned their attention elsewhere. Namely to Monaco’s Thomas Lemar and Red Star Belgrade striker Richmond Boakye.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XCwjBid3vWs&t=

In theory, this leaves Arsenal in the driver’s seat since presumably, if given the choice, Dembele would pick a move to north London over Stoke…

However, if Chelsea aren’t willing to fork out £40m for a 21-year-old, why would Arsenal?

The France u21 international had a great season when he first moved from Fulham. He scored 17 SPL goals and assisted eight. However, this term he’s only netted four and assisted three in 13.

£40m is a lot of money for a player who could just be a one season wonder.

Therefore, right now, I’m far more concerned about Chelsea reportedly turning their attention to Lemar than them dropping interest in Dembele…