The winger was a notable player in League One during a loan stay with Blackpool last season in which he collected two individual awards following a great performance. It has been suggested that the Rams are keen on Dembele who would cost a transfer fee with the winger under contract until 2026.

But Brest, who are in the Champions League next season, have chosen to cut their losses on the 21-year-old with the club’s sports director Grégory Lorenzi revealing to L’Equipe that he is one of four players to be departing this summer. Dembele scored nine goals and provided 14 assists in what was a remarkable year for the former England and Scotland youth international.

Dembele has inevitably been linked with a return to Blackpool where he was so productive but boss Neil Critchley said: “We obviously want to keep good players and bring them to the football club- Kaddy is obviously one of them, but it’s not always us and what we want, players and agents have their thoughts and ideas as well. It goes without saying, if we could then he’s the sort of player we’d want to have.

“He’s a brilliant footballer, I love watching him play. He’s exciting, he’s something different in this league. He’s incredibly fearless, he takes the ball into any area of the pitch and backs himself- he’s got genuine bravery. He’s a nice child and is excellent to work with.”

Dembele started his career with Celtic and was recognised as a prodigy which lead him to play for their under-20s development team at the age of 13. He made eight appearances in total for the Glasgow giants before moving for Brest in 2022. He made 16 appearances for the French club but is currently judged surplus to requirements.

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