Virus crisis hits deal talks with Edouard

Celtic boss Neil Lennon has confirmed the club are still trying to sign star striker Odsonne Edouard to an extended deal but admitted that it is difficult in the current climate.

The Northern Irishman also revealed that wage cuts at Parkhead were a possibility in the future.

No club has been immune from the fallout of the coronavirus shutdown – and that includes Celtic.

The Scottish Premiership leaders have been trying to ensure one of their “prized assets” was tied down on a new deal with 22-year-old Frenchman Edoaurd’s current contract due to expire in 2022.

But, speaking to BBC 5 Live, Lennon acknowledged that the “landscape has changed from where we were a month ago”.

“It’s uncertain,” he added. “Ideally you’d like to keep your prized assets for at least another year anyway.

“No question there’s going to be interest in him, but ideally you’d like to maybe tie him down to another year on top of what he has already and keep him here.”

There could be more severe ramifications in the future, with Lennon confirming that wage cuts are a possibility.

However, he said that is not something which

would happen for at least another month. That is when the club’s chief Peter Lawell is set to review the situation with the club’s board.

In the past couple of weeks, Premiership rivals Hearts, Hibs and Aberdeen have raised concerns about the lack of revenue in the coming weeks and months which may result in cuts or deferrals.

The Tynecastle side have already requested their staff, playing squad and management team take a 50 per cent cut after March.

Lennon said: “We’ll probably have a look at things at the end of April in terms of the club as a whole. Peter and the board will review it then. At the minute, we are okay. For Scottish clubs, this is the time of the year when they are putting out season tickets but, obviously, the general public are very wary and reluctant to part with their money as they don’t know what they are paying for yet and we still haven’t finished this season yet.

“We don’t know whether that’s going to happen or not. We need to get a decision sooner rather than later on that.

“There has to be a backstop date at some stage so we can start to plan ahead.

“We’re financially robust, but are still feeling the hit. We’ve been told by the chief medical officer here it’s going to be 12 to 13 weeks in this situation, so it’s really difficult to plan for the future and you have to prepare yourself as best you can for whatever the outcome is going to be.”