The Courier & Advertiser (Perth and Perthshire Edition)
Edouard won’t be bothered by transfer – Brown
celtic: Striker tipped to handle pressure
Celtic captain Scott Brown is confident a “laid-back” Odsonne Edouard will be comfortable with his tag of the club’s record signing.
The Scottish champions last week announced they had broken their transfer record when signing the 20-yearold striker from Paris St Germain for an undisclosed fee.
The previous high was £6 million, which they shelled out on both John Hartson and Chris Sutton, and Edouard’s signing could ultimately cost up to £10m, depending on his progress.
The forward scored 11 times in 29 appearances during a loan spell from PSG last season, including three goals against Rangers, and Brown is sure he will handle any pressure that comes with his price tag.
“He’ll not be bothered,” the 32-yearold midfielder said. “He is very laid back so that’s a great positive. He does his talking on the park and that’s where he needs to do it.
“He will develop a lot under the great coaching team that’s here. I think that’s what the manager sees in him.
“He is young and he’s a great prospect as well. That’s kind of the way football is going as well, we need the pace and qualities of youth.
“Especially when you have got me in the team.
“He’s a great lad in the dressing room and he showed his qualities on the park. He shows it in training every day and he showed it on the big stage as well.
“It’s great he has come and great that he wanted to be here after last season as well. I am delighted he came back in.”
Edouard is Brendan Rodgers’ only summer signing so far, although Lewis Morgan has arrived after immediately going back to St Mirren on loan when he joined the club in the winter transfer window.
But Brown believes the fee shows Celtic are determined to build on their consecutive trebles.
“It shows our intent to get into the Champions League, to go and win the league again and to be more consistent this season than we were last season,” he said.
“We want to push for Champions League, that’s our main priority at this minute.”
Celtic will know more about their main task today when the draw is made for the first and second qualifying rounds. Rodgers’ side have a list of 19 potential opponents for their opening round, including four who are competing in the preliminary stage.
Slovakian side Spartak Trnava are the highest-ranked unseeded team in Celtic’s list of six potential opponents. Maltese side Valletta, Alashkert of Armenia, Sutjeska of Montenegro, Latvian side Spartaks Jurmala and Estonians Flora Tallinn complete the list as Celtic join the competition a round earlier than last year.
Brown said: “They are making it harder and harder every year for us but we have got to keep doing it. We are where we are so we need to make sure we get into the Champions League.”