ODSONNE EDOUARD is heading for a reunion with Brendan Rodgers at Leicester City for a bargain £15million.
The 23-year-old Celtic striker is out of contract in June 2022 and is poised to move in the summer and, according to a report in the Daily Mail, his destination will be the Midlands to team up with his former Hoops boss.
Edouard has been linked with Arsenal where he could link up again with Kieran Tierney while Serie A outfit Roma have been monitoring his situation. However, it is understood the former France Under-21 international has indicated he wants to hook up once more with the manager who brought him to Parkhead on an initial season-long loan deal from Paris Saint-Germain in the summer of 2017.
The temporary transfer became permanent the following year when Celtic paid a club record £9million for the flamboyant frontman.
MATCHWINNER…Odsonne Edouard strikes the only goal of the game against Aberdeen last weekend.
Edouard failed to convince in the first half of a crucial campaign for the Hoops in their quest for their historic tenth title in succession.
His lethargic form was baffling and saw him hauled off in several games and others where he started on the substitutes’ bench.
After netting 28 goals the previous term, the gifted forward kicked off the Premiership this time around with a sparkling hat-trick in the 5-1 Flag Day triumph over Hamilton Accies at Parkhead on August 2.
Remarkably, he did not score another league goal from open play until December 30 when he lobbed in the team’s third in the 3-0 win over Dundee United in the east end of Glasgow.
That strike put him on seven goals with the other three coming from the penalty spot where also squandered one against St Mirren in the narrow 2-1 victory in Paisley on September 16. He was replaced shortly afterwards by a clearly unimpressed Neil Lennon.
Edouard has sparked back to something like his former self since the turn of the year and has boosted his goal tally to 21, including the deflected winner against Aberdeen last weekend.
JOY BHOYS…Odsonne Edouard is congratulated by Ryan Christie after one of his 21 goals this season.
Apparently, Rodgers sees the attacker as the ideal long-term replacement for 34-year-old marksman Jamie Vardy.
The proposed fee of £15million appears extraordinarily low for a player of Edouard’s proven ability and his potential. French giants PSG will also have inserted a sell-on clause of around 40 per cent for their protege which would leave the champions with a mere £3.6million profit.
Even in the midst of a shrinking economic market during a pandemic, it would be bizarre for Celtic to accept £10million less from an English club for Edouard than they received for Tierney.
At one stage, the Hoops hierarchy had hoped for a fee in the £40million region for their hottest property who has collected 83 goals in four seasons.
They could, of course, negotiate a deal with the King Power club that would see Celtic receive a sizeable sell-on clause when – or if – the player left Leicester.
That would constitute an enormous gamble by the Parkhead outfit when Edouard could expect to be offered a five-year deal.
Alas, the faltering Scotland title kings have been caught in a minefield of mistakes in a season to forget – letting Edouard leave for a paltry £15million would be another blunder.
Plus the club have no ready-made replacement with Leigh Griffiths, Albian Ajeti and Patryk Klimala failing to convince this term with a total of 16 goals among them.
