Liverpool Face Fight to Sign Prolific French Starlet

Fulham are confident that they will be able to keep hold of French starlet Moussa Dembele despite reported interest from Liverpool and Manchester United.

The 17-year-old was signed from Paris Saint-Germain in the summer of 2012 and has quickly made a name for himself at Craven Cottageas he continues to excel in various youth teams.

He is already a regular for the Under-21 side and scored five goals in his first four games at that level, despite normally being one of the youngest players on the pitch.

His impressive form has alerted him to rival Premier League clubs and there were numerous reports in recent weeks suggesting that Liverpool would attempt to convince him to move to Anfield in the coming transfer window.

Dembele's versatility, he can lead the line or play out wide in a front three, and his impressive record in front of goal means Fulham may struggle to keep hold of the French teenager but manager Martin Jol is confident he will remain for at least two more years.

"Dembele came in two years ago and is still under contract," Jol told getwestlondon.co.uk. "He's only 17 now, but he's strong and scores goals every match. I took him up to the Under 21s already.

"The boy loves it here. The only thing we've got to do is in the next couple of years to keep him here."

The young striker demonstrated his quality earlier this week as he fired two goals to help Fulham U21s qualify for the last 16 of the Premier League Cup with a 3-0 win over Aston Villa.

Liverpool may well still attempt to move for the striker as manager Brendan Rodgers has a good track record of handing young players opportunities in the first team and in recent seasons has managed to attract teenagers to the club.

Highly rated midfielder Yan Dhanda was convinced to leave West Brom for Liverpool this summer, while Sergi Canos arrived from Barcelona and Pedro Chirivella moved from Valencia.