FRENCH FANCY
Celtic keen on PSG’s Edouard after Roberts arrives on loan
CELTIC were last night hot on the trail of Paris Saint-Germain striker Odsonne Edouard — as Patrick Roberts opened the door to eventually making his move to Glasgow permanent.
Edouard, a powerful 19-year-old forward, has yet to play for the club Celtic will face in the Champions League this season but did enough while on loan at Toulouse last season to catch the eye of Brendan Rodgers.
The Celtic manager is believed to have been in Paris last week and it is understood French Under-19 star Edouard was one of the prime reasons for his visit.
News of the interest comes after reports in France last night claimed Marseille will make a £25million move to sign Moussa Dembele before the close of the window.
Born in French Guiana, Edouard joined PSG’s academy as a 13-year-old before progressing to its B team.
Farmed out to Toulouse last season, Edouard scored just once in 16 appearances but was developing to his parent club’s satisfaction before the deal was terminated in bizarre fashion in February after the player was suspected of having shot at a passer-by with an air gun — injuring him in the head.
Although he denied any involvement, he was eventually ordered to pay a fine of €6,000 as well as damages of €2,600 to the victim.
That incident hasn’t put off Celtic, though,
who are believed to be at the head of the queue to take the player on a one-year loan deal. Having signed Neymar from Barcelona for £198million and close to capturing the signature of Monaco striker Kylian Mbappe for £140m, the Qatari-owned club are now prepared to loan out their best emerging talents. The development came on the day that Roberts claimed to be open-minded about making his switch to Glasgow permanent when his second loan move expires next summer. ‘You never know in football,’ said the £12m Man City player. ‘I said that last year and here I am back again. ‘Celtic did try to get the permanent move but in fairness to City they wanted to keep me and said that couldn’t happen. ‘It gives me a bit of hope obviously they still think I have a long-term future, which is good for me. ‘They will let me express myself up here and enjoy my season.’ City chiefs were keen for Roberts to move to Nice, Southampton or Girona on loan but Roberts was adamant his interests would be best served by returning to Glasgow. ‘Discussions went on throughout pre-season,’ he added. ‘You have to find the right option. ‘Talking to them, I said I felt it was in my best interests to come back here. Luckily enough, they listened to me and took it on board. We had a good discussion about it. ‘I was just thinking about my own development and where I felt I would improve. That was here and I’ve made that decision. I don’t regret it. I back myself to improve this season.’ Roberts’ commitment to Celtic was illustrated last season when he opted to stay for the Scottish Cup final with Aberdeen — rather than travel with the England Under-20 squad for the World Cup in South Korea. Although he became part of the first Scottish team in history to win the Treble while undefeated, Roberts missed out on his nation winning the under-age tournament in Asia. But he insists he wouldn’t change his decision. ‘No, no regrets,’ he stated. ‘You don’t have a crystal ball to see if they are going to win it or not and we had a massive chance here to go and make history.’