MOUSSA Dembele last night stated he won't risk his involvement in the Champions League qualifiers next season just to play in the William Hill Scottish Cup final and backed his Celtic team mates to complete the treble in his absence.

Dembele, the Parkhead club’s top scorer in the 2016/17 campaign with 32 goals to his name, suffered a hamstring strain back heeling the ball in the cup semi-final victory over Rangers at Hampden last month.

The 20-year-old, who has been nominated for both the PFA Scotland Premiership Player and Young Player of the Year awards, admitted that he is hoping to be involved the final against Aberdeen on Saturday, May 27.

However, the French forward, who has been linked with moves to Arsenal, Chelsea, Paris Saint-Germain and Manchester United this summer as a result of his success up front for Celtic, has stressed he won't jeopardise playing in Europe by featuring when he isn't fully fit.

Brendan Rodgers’s side will get their bid to reach the lucrative Champions League group stages for the second season running underway in early July and the Irishman is keen for his leading marksman to be available.

“I’m good and the injury is doing well,” said Dembele. “I’m working in the gym every day, trying to get fit. I don’t know if I’m ahead of schedule, I’m just working as hard as I can and we’ll see what happens.

“I’m just trying to get fit and, if that’s before the cup final, that would be good, but if not I’ll just go on holiday and then come back for pre-season training.

"There’s a chance I could play in the final maybe, but also maybe not. It’s three weeks until the final so there’s still time, but I will listen to the physios. With an injury like this, you need to take care.

“Personally, I will need to be 100 per cent fit if I am to play, especially with a muscle injury. Otherwise, I will just get injured again so I will just take my time. If I am not fit in time for the final then I will come back stronger for the Champions League qualifying games.”

Dembele’s Celtic team mates managed to knock Rangers out of the Scottish Cup after he hobbled off in the semi-final and then thrash their city rivals by a record 5-1 scoreline at Ibrox in a Ladbrokes Premiership match at Ibrox on Saturday.

Asked if he thought they could beat Aberdeen later this month and complete the final leg of what would only be the fourth domestic treble in their history without him, Dembele replied: “Yes. They have done it before and they can do it again. I am confident.

“Missing the Rangers game on Saturday was frustrating, but I’ve played in five already this season and the other boys did well at Ibrox. They looked especially hungry and they deserved the win. In fact, they could have scored even more goals than they did. It was a good finish from Griff (Leigh Griffiths). When he’s in the box you expect that from him.”

The fact that Dembele, who scored goals against Astana, Hapoel Be’er Sheva, Manchester City and Borussia Moenchengladbach in both the Champions League qualifying rounds and group stages, is looking towards playing for Celtic in Europe next season would seem to suggest that it is not, as has been widely predicted, a foregone conclusion he will move on.

“I have got a four year contract,” he said. “I have never said I am going to leave this club. For me, there are no transfer rumours, or speaking about my future, or speculation. I just focus on Celtic. There are many more challenges here. We have the Champions League coming up and we will want to defend our title next season. We have to do better in the Champions League.

“This season I think there was a lack of experience I would say. The club hadn’t been there for two or three seasons and for a lot of us it was our first experience in the competition. Next season we will be stronger than this season. We have kept on improving since the start of the season so we can do better again next season.”

The France Under-21 forward has been widely tipped to win a call-up to his full national side this season. He is confident that he can force his way into his country’s set-up in the future if he remains in Glasgow and even be involved at the Russia 2018 finals next summer.

Asked if he could make it to the World Cup as a Celtic player, he said: “It is possible. As a player if you don’t have targets or goals then you can’t progress. I am good here. I have to make sure that next season I am in good form and I do my best. The national team will come when they come. I am just relaxed just now. I will wait for my time. Hopefully my time will come soon.

“It is. It is just up to me. If I keep producing like I have produced this season then it will come. I just have to make sure I am ready when it comes.”

Dembele raised eyebrows when he declared that his ambition was to become the best striker in the world after completing his £500,000 move from English Championship club Fulham last season. But it doesn’t seem like such a grandiose claim now. “I am progressing,” he said. “The road is still far for me to go, but I feel like I am getting there.”