Odsonne Edouard is likely to attract some form of interest this summer. The 21-year-old netted 23 goals in his first season as a permanent Celtic player, including a double in the Scottish Cup final.
He has a terrific scoring record at youth level for France and a good reputation elsewhere given his European exploits for Celtic.
The forward signed a four-year deal when he joined last summer so any move would have to be of an amount significantly greater than the £9million Celtic gave to PSG.
Moussa Dembele departed the club last summer and was immediately replaced in the first-team by Edouard. So what would happen if the former PSG man moved on in the next two months? Would Celtic have an able deputy already at the club?
Tested and untested
Leigh Griffiths would almost certainly be the man asked to fill the Frenchman’s void. The Scotland international is a reliable goalscorer but hasn’t featured for the club since December. Questions have got to be asked about Griffiths’ future given his reported recent problems.
The third main striker at the club is Vakoun Issouf Bayo. The Ivorian striker joined from Slovakian top-flight side Dunajska Streda in January but has played just six minutes since. The 22-year-old ruptured his hamstring in April so he’ll have to wait until next season to make his first Celtic start.
He clearly has potential, having scored 18 goals in 23 goals for the Slovakians this year, but he won’t get time to find his feet if he’s number one at Celtic.
The truth of it is that Celtic are going into the new season very bare up top. If Edouard was to get injured in pre-season then we would have to start a vital qualifier with a player who featured precious little in the final six months of the season. It is crucial that the Frenchman isn’t sold until we get an adequate replacement in.
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