Celtic will have to chase down Rangers after the international break as they slipped up in back to back league games recently. However, sandwiched between those two losses, the Hoops enjoyed a fruitful outing against Cluj in the Europa League as they secured a 2-0 victory over them.
However, they put in a lacklustre display against Livingston at the weekend as they succumbed to a 1-0 defeat. Neil Lennon doesn’t have too many options to rotate up front, so he had to go in with Odsonne Edouard. The Frenchman has emerged as an integral player in the Celtic first team, but his exploits for France u-21 side means that he will continue to garner attention from some of the top leagues in Europe. Serie A outfit Lazio have already been linked with a €20m move for him.
Sutton on why Celtic cannot lose Edouard for any price?
Chris Sutton believes that Celtic cannot even consider thinking about selling Edouard even for £50m in January. Writing in his column for Daily Record, the former Celtic striker said, ”It is impossible for Celtic to even consider selling Edouard – even if they received a £50million bid.”
”I’m not saying Celtic will get that kind of offer, but the point is it doesn’t matter how much cash is on offer, letting Edouard go in the middle of the season is simply unthinkable. Players have been sold at questionable times over the years, and there has been an uproar on occasions.”
Is Sutton right with his assessment?
Sutton is spot on with his assessment as Lennon doesn’t have too many options up top, so selling Edouard will derail their campaign. Leigh Griffiths has struggled with personal and injury issues over the past 12 months, and it remains to be seen whether he would be able to get back to his best. Vakoun Issouf Bayo is another forward option for the manager, but he is still mostly untested at the top level, and he might take some time to get going.
Even an injury to Edouard will be a significant setback for the club. Celtic sold Moussa Dembele in the summer of 2018 on the last day of the window which caused a major uproar. However, the signing of Edouard earlier had made them recover from that loss.
However this time around if they go on to sell Edouard in January then the Hoops will add immense pressure on themselves to replace him in the same window. We think that Celtic shouldn’t entertain any offers for the French striker this winter.
