Celtic manager Brendan Rodgers has rebuffed suggestions that a buy-out clause of £7m would secure the services of French under-21 striker Odsonne Edouard on a permanent deal this summer.
Edouard is entering into the latter months of a season-long loan deal from parent club PSG and while Rodgers confirmed that there is a clause agreed between the two clubs for a player whom he regards as the "most natural striker" at Celtic, he has maintained that the figure quoted is inaccurate.
“Where have you got the figure from?” said Rodgers in response to the perceived sum for Edouard. “No – it’s not that. I’m not telling you what it is, but it’s not that."
Read more: 'Braveheart' Liam Henderson talking the talk with Bari
If Rodgers was irked at the misinformation he has nothing but praise for the raw talent of the striker. Edouard has netted eight goals in 24 appearances for Celtic this season, with the bulk of his game time coming off the bench. The striker netted a hat-trick against Motherwell back in December but his most high profile performance for the Parkhead side came with his display against Rangers at Ibrox when Celtic came twice from behind to win 3-2 and effectively seal a seventh successive title.
“I’ve said from day dot that I see the player every day and he’s one of the most gifted players I’ve worked with," enthused Rodgers. “Because his representatives aren’t running about throwing him to every club under the sun it doesn’t mean he’s not a top player.
“There’s no propaganda around him, but he’s a top talent. He’s settled in well and if we have any chance to do something at the end of the season then we can look at that. We have to respect he’s a PSG player, not a Celtic player. There is a clause in the deal.
“The clause is there and there’s been an agreement but we would need to trigger the fee. There’s a lot to do in terms of the bigger picture too. In time we’ll see. He’s a fantastic player and we’ll see between now and the end of the season.”
Read more: Callum Paterson: I was so low after getting injured at Hearts - even my cat Peanut was stressed out
As Celtic push now for what would be the unique achievement of a back-to-back treble, Edouard will be expected to feature prominently in the run-in. Moussa Dembele, the striker's fellow countryman, has recently shown the clinical and aggressive streak that was the hallmark of his inaugural season at the club but Leigh Griffiths remains sidelined for now with a calf injury. Of the trio of forwards that Rodgers has at his disposal, it is Edouard whom he believes is the most natural in front of goal.
“He is the most natural of all our strikers in how he moves," observed the Celtic manager. "His movement is phenomenal for a young player. How he drifts in and out of space. Then his actual speed to get in behind. It is very early in his career but if you measure him coming through at PSG and France, he is a record goalscorer. He has the ability to score goals.
“He trains well every days. He does things on the training ground that amaze me, really. Just his ability. And he is tough. He is a tough boy. So he is a really big talent and I have always felt, even when he hasn’t played, that he has that talent. Like any young player, there is lots to improve on but he is a big weapon for us whether he starts or comes off the bench.”
Read more: 'Braveheart' Liam Henderson talking the talk with Bari
Celtic full-back Kieran Tierney revealed in the immediate aftermath of the game against Rangers that Edouard was the quietest player in the dressing room as the Parkhead side celebrated a victory that effectively sealed a seventh successive title.
And that temperament is what Rodgers believes marks the player out as he takes the initial steps on his senior career.
“You see him after the game at Ibrox,” he said. “People are jumping about and rightly so. He is walking about as if “what’s going on here”. It can be real strength that because he never gets too disappointed or too high. But he knows he is a player.”
If Celtic's French connection provided the cornerstone of that win against Rangers then it was of no surprise to Rodgers.
There was an argument that Olivier Ntcham was a man of the match candidate for his part in that Ibrox victory such was his influence on proceedings. Latterly Ntcham has shown an elegance combined with a physicality in the middle of the park that suggests he is the closest Celtic have come to replacing Victor Wanyama since the Kenyan internationalist left the club for Southampton in 2013.
Read more: Callum Paterson: I was so low after getting injured at Hearts - even my cat Peanut was stressed out
“It is just about bedding him in,” said Rodgers. “When he came in it was about one game a week. You have to remember he played 38 games over two seasons in Genoa.
“He was virtually up to that in one season here. So that takes time to adapt and then you add pressure to that as well. It’s just been about building his way through. He started to recover better in games and be able to go again in the next one.
“Now we are at a stage of the season where it is virtually one game a week, he can cope with that really well.
“You see his qualities. And he has no ego.He is a big talent.”
Why are you making commenting on The Herald only available to subscribers?
It should have been a safe space for informed debate, somewhere for readers to discuss issues around the biggest stories of the day, but all too often the below the line comments on most websites have become bogged down by off-topic discussions and abuse.
heraldscotland.com is tackling this problem by allowing only subscribers to comment.
We are doing this to improve the experience for our loyal readers and we believe it will reduce the ability of trolls and troublemakers, who occasionally find their way onto our site, to abuse our journalists and readers. We also hope it will help the comments section fulfil its promise as a part of Scotland's conversation with itself.
We are lucky at The Herald. We are read by an informed, educated readership who can add their knowledge and insights to our stories.
That is invaluable.
We are making the subscriber-only change to support our valued readers, who tell us they don't want the site cluttered up with irrelevant comments, untruths and abuse.
In the past, the journalist’s job was to collect and distribute information to the audience. Technology means that readers can shape a discussion. We look forward to hearing from you on heraldscotland.com
Comments & Moderation
Readers’ comments: You are personally liable for the content of any comments you upload to this website, so please act responsibly. We do not pre-moderate or monitor readers’ comments appearing on our websites, but we do post-moderate in response to complaints we receive or otherwise when a potential problem comes to our attention. You can make a complaint by using the ‘report this post’ link . We may then apply our discretion under the user terms to amend or delete comments.
Post moderation is undertaken full-time 9am-6pm on weekdays, and on a part-time basis outwith those hours.
Read the rules hereLast Updated:
Report this comment Cancel