Brendan Rodgers has insisted that there has been no formal bid for Moussa Dembele – but acknowledged that if and when the money is right it will be difficult to refuse a move for the striker.

There were reports on Christmas Day that Celtic had received a formal bid of £18m from Brighton, news that was rubbished by the Parkhead side.

Rodgers rebuffed that too after the 2-0 win over Dundee yesterday but did admit that if players do leave the club then there are replacements lined up already.

“We don’t want to lose any players, of course,” he said.

“And we won’t lose any players. However, if something comes in it goes back to that issue morally. If there is something where a player can earn five times as much as what he’s on now, then it is very, very difficult to stop him, especially if you get a fee for a player.

“Ok, but there is a lot for that to happen, a lot that needs to be right. We don’t need to sell anyone. That’s the idea.

“But I think what is important at Celtic, especially when you are doing well, is you know there’s going to be interest and you have to prepare forward. And if we do lose any of our players for reasons I’ve just said, we hope then we’ll have some to bring in and keep the continuation going of how we are working.”

And the Celtic manager maintained, too, that Dembele’s focus has been unaffected by the speculation regarding his future.

The Frenchman came on for the last ten minutes of yesterday’s game and Rodgers does not anticipate that his concentration will be lost amidst chat of his immediate future.

“We are very fortunate the players are very focussed on what we want to achieve and that’s been the real pleasing factor for me as a manager,” said Rodgers.

“It’s not just about motivation for the team, because you see it throughout, you see teams motivated.

“What the difference is with this group of players is the consistency with the motivation; it’s week, after, week, after week, and day after day after day within it.

“How they prepare themselves, how they sacrifice themselves. So he, along with all the other players are focussed. And you seen that in the game. It was a very, very good game from ourselves, and a great victory and we’ve move on to a little game on Saturday.”