THE real sell-on clause in Odsonne Edouard’s Celtic contract has been revealed at a colossal FIFTY PER CENT.
The 23-year-old Frenchman will leave Parkhead in the summer as interested clubs are forming a queue with Brendan Rodgers one of the frontrunners as he eyes taking the striker to Leicester City.
It was the Irishman who persuaded the Hoops hierarchy to break their transfer record by splashing £9million on the player in June 2018 to bring him from Paris Saint-Germain on a permanent deal after his initiial impressive season-long loan contract.
Astonishingly, Celtic agreed to the 50 per cent sell-on terms at the time of the move, as reported today by the Daily Record.
PAIN GAME…Odsonne Edouard winces after a miss.
It means the fallen champions will bank a mere profit of just £5.5million – if he moves for £20million which is still a remarkably low fee for a frontman who has netted 50 goals over the past two years and 85 in 168 appearances for the Glasgow side.
CQN’s information was that the agreement was for 40 per cent, as we reported TEN weeks ago, which was line with Manchester City’s demand for Jeremie Frimpong when he joined the club for £1million in the summer of 2019. The Dutch right-back, of course, moved to Bayer Leverkusen for £11.8million in the January transfer window.
There is likely to be a summer stampede for the French Under-21 forward with Arsenal, Southampton, Newcastle and Aston Villa also showing an interest while AC Milan and Napoli and a couple of Bundesliga outfits are monitoring the situation.
Edouard is out of contract in June 2022 and the club stubbornly resisted the temptation to sell him last year as they geared up for their bid for the historic tenth successive title.
ON THE RUN…Odsonne Edouard and Ibrox defender Nathan Patterson in action.
However, the frontman failed to convince in the first half of a crucial campaign and his puzzlingly lethargic form 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 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.
JOY BHOYS…Odsonne Edouard celebrates a goal with Ryan Christie.
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 sparked back to something like his former self since the turn of the year, but was still wasteful in the 2-0 Scottish Cup loss at Ibrox when he passed up two excellent opportunities, including a feeble penalty-kick, as the club blew their chance of silverware in a dire campaign.
It also condemned Celtic to their first trophyless in 11 years.
Massive changes are on their way at Parkhead and Edouard will be one of the players heading for the exit – if the price is right.
