It’s been no secret that Celtic have been seeking to tie Odsonne Edouard down to another year at the club, with a gentleman’s agreement that he can leave next summer if he wishes.
The deal would see Edouard hopefully guide Celtic to ten in a row, given that the ninth title is/was effectively in the bag. Low and behold, the coronavirus may have put a spanner in the works in that regard as the striker is now reportedly taking his time before entering into any serious contract negotiations.
According to Football Insider, a Celtic source has notified them that the player’s representatives have been reluctant to discuss tying him down beyond his summer 2022 contract expiry date. Clearly, the extension would ensure Celtic could keep the player for one more historic season, whilst getting maximum profit for his sale, yet there has been a lack of progress on the deal.
The issue seems to be surrounding certain expectations that the player has, in order to allow him to test himself at a higher level in the future, despite being settled and happy at Parkhead just now. There is the inevitable discussion of wages, but the Frenchman would also like to have a release clause inserted into the contract and the problem may lie therein.
Celtic regard Edouard as being of higher value in today’s transfer market than Kieran Tierney and Moussa Dembele, who were sold for £25m and £19m respectively, in the previous two seasons. A figure will need to be agreed, which suits both club and player so that clubs from major leagues are not put off by the price tag.
Hopefully Celtic can get this one over the line.
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