Classy Edouard is ready to take his place amongst French megastars
Jullien reckons Celtic team-mate can force his way through into World Champions’ formidable front line
“Odsonne can definitely get into the Euros”
CELTIC’S pre-season tour of Lyon and Paris will see the Scottish champions face the creme de la creme of French striking talent.
Paris Saint-Germain superstar Kylian Mbappe, the first teenager since Pele to score in a World Cup final when Les Bleus conquered the planet in 2018, lies in wait at the Parc des Princes at the end of the trip next Tuesday.
Three days earlier on Saturday, there will have been a reunion for the Parkhead players with a familiar face in Moussa Dembele when Neil Lennon’s side take on Lyon in a mini-tournament at the Groupama Stadium.
Under Brendan Rodgers, Dembele shone so brightly at Celtic Park that he won a £20million move to the Ligue 1 side. His subsequent form has seen him tipped for full international honours as well as being linked with a £40m switch to a number of European giants, including Real Madrid, Bayern Munich, Chelsea, Arsenal and Manchester United.
But defender Christopher Jullien, who has played against both superstar strikers in the past, has backed Celtic’s very own French forward to prove that he belongs in such rarefied company over the next seven days.
The £7m former Toulouse centre-half has so much faith in Odsonne Edouard — a club record £9m signing from PSG in 2018 — that he believes the talented 22-year-old could be sharing a pitch with Mbappe and Dembele again next summer after a season that sees Celtic vying for an historic ten-in-a-row.
But this time he reckons it will be as part of the France international squad for the rescheduled Euro 2020 tournament, when manager Didier Deschamps will be aiming to add the title of European champions to his country’s current mantle as the finest national team in the world.
‘Odsonne Edouard can get to the Euros next year, definitely,’ said Jullien of the Celtic striker, who will be shorn of his strike partner for the upcoming friendlies after Leigh Griffiths was left back at Lennoxtown to work on his fitness.
‘I know that, one day, he will be playing at the very highest level.
‘Odsonne does a lot for the team and we all know it. I just know that he is going to try and put his name into (Celtic’s history next season).
‘The good thing for Odsonne is that many of the other French strikers are totally different. They are not all the same.
‘I have played against all three of them. I play every day against Odsonne in training and I know that he is not the same type of player as Moussa Dembele. And Kylian Mbappe is also not the same type of player. They are three very different types of player and that can only be a good thing for France to have such choices.
‘I just can’t wait to see Odsonne one day achieve (being called up for the senior France squad).
‘I really hope that he will go on and do it.
‘But Odsonne can have (that goal) in his head because he was playing well last season for the France Under-21s team. He has had that taste of the international break and getting away with the national team.’
Jullien himself was part of the France squad that conquered the planet at the Under-20s World Cup in 2013.
He admits it remains a goal of his to make the climb up Mount Olympus to join one of the most talented national team squads in the world. Even if, for now, it is a distant dream.
‘I just focus on what I have to achieve at Celtic,’ he said with a Gallic shrug.
‘I said before about Odsonne having that fresh feeling about going away in the international breaks but it’s not the same for me (because I am not being called up).
‘But, for me, to get back into the French selection at any time would be just a dream because I did love it when I was there. You play with amazing players and it was great to be part of it.
‘But I don’t think so much about it right now. The biggest achievement for me currently is achieving something big with Celtic and that is what I have my full concentration on.’
Neil Lennon’s men kick off their pre-season tour against Nice on Thursday in a four-team tournament, with Rangers and Lyon also vying to lift the Veolia Trophy.
The games will be played in front of crowds of up to 5,000 socially-distanced fans — with no visiting supporters allowed — while teams from the same country won’t face each other.
For Celtic’s French contingent of Jullien, Edouard and Olivier Ntcham, the limited crowds means friends and family in their homeland are unlikely to be in attendance.
‘When the game was announced (against PSG) my phone started making noises and my friends were like: “Yeah, this is great, we will see you in Paris against PSG”,’
said Jullien. ‘But I was like: “Oh, I’m not sure people can go along to the games”.
‘It’s a little sad that no-one can come because the PSG game is close to me. It’s maybe 30 minutes from my house. But it’s okay. You can understand why the situation is the way it is and it’s the same for Oli and Odsonne.’
Despite the lack of big crowds, Jullien believes the games are exactly what Celtic need as they prepare for a Champions League campaign that will consist of one-legged qualifiers when competitive football returns following the Covid-19 pandemic. ‘It would be great to have the Champions League this season,’ he said. ‘We know that it is going to be different in the qualifiers this year, with just one game in each round instead of two until you get to the play-off round. ‘But we have to be ready for it and we will work hard every day for this type of game. ‘I’m sure that we will be ready when the matches come around.’