13-Year-Old Karamoko Dembele Trains with England After Scotland U16s Debut

Celtic’s 13-year-old sensation Karamoko Dembele has reportedly been training with the England under-16 squad, as the English Football Association seeks to convince him to represent the Three Lions in the future.

That’s according to Sky Sports News HQ, who have stated the English FA "were keen to keep the invite under wraps because of Dembele's age.

As noted in the report, the teenager was born in London but is eligible to represent Scotland and the Ivory Coast as well as England. Dembele has already played for the Scotland under-16 side, making his debut against Wales in a 2-2 draw earlier this month.

Per Bleacher Report UK, given his tender years, Dembele did look a little out of place:

However, as we can see courtesy of BigSport, when he was introduced to the game as a substitute, he made a pretty swift impact:

According to the initial report, Scotland are desperate for the 13-year-old to remain part of their national team setup for years to come.

As reported by Kate Burlaga of Sky Sports, Dembele became a social media hit earlier in the year when he made his debut for Celtic’s under-20 team against Hearts. 

Dembele shone for Celtic’s under-15 during the summer at the St Kevin's Boys Academy Cup in Dublin, too. As noted by Burlaga, he was named as Player of the Tournament after superb performances against Barcelona, Lyon, Deportivo La Coruna and West Bromwich Albion.

Celtic manager Brendan Rodgers told TalkSport (h/t Alex Richards of the Daily Mirror) earlier this month that Dembele is a “special talent.”