Everything seems hunky dory at Celtic as they defeated their old firm rivals in the derby but the mood was far from that when they were going into this all-important encounter. Celtic had lost their talismanic striker Moussa Dembele to Lyon on the last day of the transfer window, and many would have thought that was a massive blow for the Hoops which could have potentially derailed their season.
However, we believe Brendan Rodgers was two steps ahead of everything as he had already secured the signing of Odsonne Edouard from Paris Saint Germain earlier for a club record fee of £9m. Just because Dembele departed late, doesn’t mean that Rodgers wouldn’t have seen the potential of something like this happening.
Ever since Dembele came to Celtic, one would say he was always destined to leave for bigger things. The question was when. We think the Hoops did well to hold him on for two years, and maybe their failure to make it to the Champions League this year pushed the Frenchman to return to his homeland and play for a club of Lyon’s stature who are in the Champions League group stage.
If Dembele would have stayed then that Celtic’s attack would have been lip-smackingly good, but even after his departure, we think Edouard would put in a big season in place of the departed French forward.
Edouard had already proven his worth last season on loan with the Hoops when he scored 11 goals in all competitions in 29 appearances. The 20-year-old had played second fiddle to Dembele in the previous campaign, and quite a few of his appearances came from the bench. This season he would have more responsibility on his shoulders and the fact that Rodgers tested him first and then offered him the record fee, suggests that the manager would have taken into account Dembele’s departure way earlier than everyone anticipated.
Obviously, Edouard is not in the same bracket as Dembele yet but wrapping his deal early in the transfer window was a smart move by the club. Even when Edouard doesn’t score, his work rate is impressive as he often chases lost causes and usually comes in midfield to provide options for his midfielders. He is strong and pacy, and along with that, his hold up play is also up to the mark. We expect him to have a good campaign by scoring at least in upwards of 20 goals this season. (He already has 4 to his name)
Even though he was coming back from injury, Rodgers thrust him into the big derby against Rangers. That shows how much confidence he has on the player and his abilities. He later brought on Leigh Griffiths to ease the workload for the Frenchman.
Many critics were unhappy about how the Hoops allowed Dembele to leave so late in the transfer window but we believe they played it smart in the end and are well covered in his absence for the time being.
