Arsenal are looking to make their move for Celtic striker Odsonne Edouard, but only on one condition according to the Sun.
The Gunners have been linked with the Frenchman for months as he enters the final 12 months of his contract this summer. However, the Sun believes that they’ll only make a move for Eduard if they sell star striker Alexandre Lacazette.
Despite a decent season for the former Lyon man at the Emirates, Lacazette is also heading into the final year of his deal. It had been reported back in March that Arsenal were happy to do a deal for him if the right offer came in [Football.London].
And the Sun claims that they’ll only make a move for Edouard if his countryman leaves.
This comes after reports last week stated that Leicester were in pole position in the race for Edouard’s signature [TalkSPORT]. The Daily Record claimed that Celtic want as much as £20m for him.
Arsenal need to show Celtic respect with transfer offer
In the one piece of business the two clubs have done in recent years, Celtic banked a record transfer fee. Indeed, the £25million taking Kieran Tierney from Parkhead to the Emirates was a great deal for all parties [BBC].
What was pleasing regarding that deal is that we managed to get maximum value for the player. Some will claim he was worth between £30m-£40m even back then. However, with the financial landscape of Scottish football, we were never going to bag that.
Arsenal, however, only managed to sign Tierney after several rejected bids from Celtic. After several attempts at trying to nab him on the cheap via add-ons etc [Sky Sports].
The Edouard situation isn’t a saga that will allow them to get away with such cheek. If they want Odsonne, they’re going to have to show us the appropriate level of respect immediately to win the race before other parties swoop in.
This is where Celtic can get a bit of joy. More interested clubs leads to a greater transfer fee. We need to use all the tools we have at our disposal to drum up the valuation given his contract situation. If clubs are stalling over paying £20m, then one of their rivals could see that as the chance to talk to Edouard first.
But it looks as though the Gunners will only make their move if they wave goodbye to Lacazette.
In other news, a report has raised serious questions about John Kennedy’s Celtic future.
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