New Hibs striker Elie Youan wants to prove the credentials that made him one of France's top young strikers at Easter Road - and emulating Moussa Dembele would help him.
The French striker now at Lyon arrived at Celtic in 2016 from Fulham and netted 51 times over two years. Youan - a former French u20s player - has joined Lee Johnson's Hibees squad on a season-long loan from Swiss club St Gallen that could become permanent next summer. Because of his international allegiances, he knows of Dembele and former Hoops midfielder Olivier Ntcham's Premiership spell.
He's played with some other star-studded names but Youan says Dembele given they play in the same position, was one of the biggest inspiration for him going to Hibs: "When you play in the national team it’s because you are one of the best young players in the country. That was the case. The last six months I don’t play too much.
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"Now I want to show it was no coincidence that I was capped for my country at that level. I played with Ibrahima Konate and Boubacar Kamara. I take inspiration from their careers. It’s a race.
"Someone can make it in their first day, for others it can take longer. My race is now in Scotland. It’s closer to England so maybe the next step for me will be the Premier League. I can’t wait to play for the Hibees.
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“I know of Moussa Dembele and Olivier Ntcham because they are only a year or two older than me. I remember Moussa in the Champions League for Celtic against Manchester City. His best friend is Roli Pereira and I was with him at Nantes.
“I asked Roli if it was a good decision to come to Scotland and he said I’ll do good things here and that is is the best place to show my strengths. Moussa did good work at Celtic. It’s one of two great clubs in Scotland.
"Some people told me that Scottish football is hard and physical. But I’m ready because since I was a kid I have this style of playing. Now you will see if I’m ready or not.”
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