With Celtic in search of a striker this summer, the name of Odsonne Edouard did pop up on the transfer radar for a brief period of time.
Instead, Edouard, who struggled at Crystal Palace after leaving the Hoops in 2021, moved to France and joined RC Lens.
The ice-cool striker wasn’t the only Celtic hero taking to the Ligue 1 stage because, 12 months after Matt O’Riley joined Brighton and Hove Albion for a record transfer fee, he too was on the move, but making a bigger step up.
O’Riley joined Marseille on a season-long loan deal to play Champions League football, and the two former Celtic stars got off the mark at the same time.
Celtic heroes Odsonne Edouard and Matt O’Riley in Ligue 1
Over the duration of the season, it’s going to be interesting to see where Edouard’s game is because there was talk of him making a return to Parkhead.
But on Saturday, Edouard netted his first goal for RC Lens, as they beat AJ Auxerre 2-1 to move sixth in the table, and then O’Riley followed suit in Marseille colours.
It’s great to see the former Celtic players get off the goalscoring mark, with O’Riley helping Marseille thump FC Metz 3-0, including supplying an assist to move his team second in the table, one point behind the all-dominant Paris Saint-Germain.
Celtic’s current answer to Edouard and O’Riley
Whilst it was great to see Celtic secure a dramatic win over Motherwell on Sunday, let’s be honest, things haven’t been great this term.
Hopefully, this win, and the manner of it, will kick-start the season because there have been far too many dull performances and goalless draws for the fans’ liking.
The likes of Edouard and O’Riley are exactly what Brendan Rodgers needs right now, and hopefully, Kelechi Iheanacho can become Celtic’s answer to Edouard, and Benjamin Nygren can become the answer to O’Riley.
Big pressure, but it’s needed, and if you succeed, then it’s why Celtic become champions of Scotland.
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