ODSONNE EDOUARD is edging closer to the Celtic exit following a dramatic change of agents.
The French striker, who has scored a meagre seven goals in the Premiership in a crucial season, has linked up with London-based Stellar Group, one of the world’s biggest agencies, according to a report in the Scottish Sun.
They are the sports company who took over the affairs of his former team-mate Kieran Tierney before his £25million switch to Arsenal in June 2019.
It is clear Edouard will not see out his Hoops contract which is due to expire in June 2022. The club have been unsuccessful in their efforts to persuade the 22-year-old to agree an extension to his current deal and now it is only a question of time before he quits Parkhead. The hook up with Stellar emphasises that point.
The flamboyant frontman cost a club record £9million when he was signed by Brendan Rodgers from Paris Saint-Germain in the summer of 2018 following an impressive season-long loan. The French giants will be in line for a percentage of any transfer profit on their former protege, possibly as high as 25 per cent.
Edouard, who has claimed 74 goals from 151 appearances, has struggled to deliver in this campaign and has collected a measly 11 strikes as he has toiled to replicate the form of the previous two terms. He became the idol of the Hoops support and netted 28 goals last term – 29 if you include his penalty-kick in the delayed Scottish Cup Final against Hearts last month.
He was at the centre of a frenzy of transfer speculation in the summer, but the Hoops hierarchy resisted the temptation to sell their hottest property.
Figures of between £20million and £30million were bandied about, but his form this time out hasn’t been anywhere near that valuation.
CQN asked our readers in an EXCLUSIVE poll for their vote on Edouard earlier this week. We asked should he go NOW – or stay to see out the season. Almost 600 readers voted and emphatically answered YES – 77 per cent said it was time to move while the remaining 23 per cent reckoned he should remain.
