Odsonne Edouard is considering remaining at Celtic for another year and leaving as a free transfer next summer. The Daily Mail are reporting that the Frenchman’s move to Leicester City has stalled due to negotiations hitting a snag due to the make-up of the agreement and now Brendan Rodgers’ Foxes have moved for Salzburg forward Patson Daka.
The £25m move would mean that Edouard would not be reunited with Rodgers and would instead be forced to look elsewhere for a move. The Mail states that the player is open to remaining at Celtic but will also be looking at the market in order to determine his next move.
They had lined up France U21 international Edouard since January but negotiations over the fee with Celtic had become protracted.
Edouard had one year left on contract but his previous club Paris St Germain had a 40 per cent sell on and Celtic were asking £25m.
Edouard may now look elsewhere but is also considering seeing out his contract and leaving as a free agent.
Edouard is a fan favourite at the club and even the quoted £18m fee would be a bargain for the player but given the situation, Celtic have done well not to be forced into selling the player on the cheap. It should be a priority at the club to offer Edouard a year extension, make him the highest earner and insert a release clause of £25m, meaning that the player gets the move he is after and the club get the fee that they want.
With 55 league goals in three seasons, Edouard has proven himself to be an excellent operator and his goals will be hard to replace but potentially letting him go for free may make sense. If Celtic win the league next year, there is automatic Champions League qualification, meaning that the club could make an enormous amount but Ange Postecoglou will need the best players at his disposal to do so.
Didn’t look interested so punt him and use whatever cash to get somebody who wants to be here
As Chris Sutton once accurately said:” Celtic’s reserves are bigger than Leicester.” For me it will be no surprise if Edouard remains at the club. Celtic are going to win the league this coming season anyway so it’ll do no harm to have players of that calibre around. He’ll need to up his game though from last season where he was way under par like the rest of the team. If i were him i’d sign a two year extension, give us another season, romp the league and then move on next summer leaving Celtic a tidy transfer sum and a Champions League place. He’ll still only be 24 at that point – hardly a pensioner like Duffoe at Sevco.