The transfer negotiations for Odsonne Edouard has reached to new heights as Celtic prepares a record-breaking £10m bid. This one will be a massive jump from the £6m the Hoops dished out for Chris Sutton and John Hartson previously. Brendan Rodgers has the mammoth task of convincing a European giant, Paris Saint-Germain to part ways with their 20-year-old forward before the start of the 2018/19 campaign.
Edouard could not finish the previous season due to a hamstring injury that was picked up in the 3-1 win against Hearts. However, he did manage to impress the manager and the fans with his 11 goals and 4 assists from his sporadic 29 appearances last term.
He took to his role with vigour and proved himself despite facing competition from the likes of Moussa Dembele and Leigh Griffiths. Dembele still remains the number one choice for the ex-Liverpool boss and is closely followed by the left-footed Griffiths. Rodgers has done a remarkable job at rotating the trio with enough minutes which, in turn, has accelerated Eduard’s development.
Competition churns the best out of young talents like the Frenchman, who constantly has to prove his worth to the manager and the Celts fans. After all competing for major honours requires a fully healthy team.
Celtic won their second consecutive domestic treble after beating Motherwell 2-0 in the Scottish Cup final. Rodgers is prepared to make further additions to the already talent stacked young lineup to place a better challenge at the European stage next season.
When asked about Rangers placing a better challenge for the league title next season, he said, “It’s not a conversation. Talk about Aberdeen. Aberdeen were second. Derek has done a brilliant job. Talk about them.”
“We have to invest and improve. But the reality is that we can’t spend fortunes because there’s not masses of money there to do that. We can’t go and spend £110 or £120m”
“I need to push even harder now next year in relation to developing the players here first and foremost. And then bringing in players who can make a difference. There’s a constant need to improve. We have a really young group that are improving and developing, but to make a difference at that level needs greater quality.”
Edouard is slowly turning into a top professional with the potential of having an illustrious future with the Glasgow-based outfit. He has won the hearts of the Celtic faithful and is improving with every passing game.
His prospects with the Ligue 1 champions are toxic to his own footballing development and could end up ruining his career in the long run. The 20-year-old is hardly expected to have a future with the side when superstars like Edinson Cavani and Kylian Mbappe are in the squad.
PSG are set on investing further on world-class talents and can afford to lose Edouard at the moment. Celtic should push on with a final bid and might just land the player for £10m.
