EDOUARD VERSUS DEMBELE
Jullien insists Odsonne is superior to former Celtic hero Moussa
THE rapid rise of Odsonne Edouard is prompting feelings of déjà vu amongst Celtic fans. A regular thorn in the side of Old Firm rivals Rangers, his fine performances on the continent for the Scottish champions, allied to his goal-grabbing exploits for France Under-21s, are drawing comparisons with another gallus Gallic goal-grabber.
Under Brendan Rodgers, Moussa Dembele was the Parkhead faithful’s French fancy as he ran riot in Scotland before signing for Lyon for £20million in August of last year.
Dembele is currently the top scorer in French Ligue One, two ahead of Paris Saint-Germain duo Mauro Icardi and Angel Di Maria and three in front of their World Cup winning team-mate Kylian Mbappe.
It seems Celtic have not missed the 23-year-old, however, with Edouard stepping up to the plate in impressive fashion. His pace, size and cool finishing have led to leading clubs like Napoli, Borussia Dortmund, Sampdoria and Atalanta all tracking the 21-yearold, who was signed for £9million from PSG in June of last year but is now rated in the £30m bracket.
Celtic defender Christopher Jullien knows both men, having faced Dembele when Toulouse played Lyon in France last season. And, perhaps unsurprisingly, he insists Edouard, who netted his 13th Celtic goal of the season in Saturday’s 4-0 home win over Livingston, is the superior striker.
‘Who is better? I would say Odsonne is better because I’ve only played with him! I would say Odsonne, for sure. You all saw it before me that Moussa Dembele is a really good striker as well but Odsonne is younger and his talent is really good.
‘There is no limit to what Odsonne can do in football because his game is so complete. He can do everything. He’s not slow, he can run, he can dribble, he can play with his head. He can also come deep and play like a No 10 and his skills are unbelievable.
‘They are definitely not the same type of player, however. I played against Moussa last season, so I can say that. Moussa is a good striker, really powerful, and Odsonne is a different kind of striker — but the sky is definitely the limit for him.’
It is not just Edouard who is making a name for himself across the continent. On Thursday night, Celtic will clinch top spot in Europa League Group E if they beat Rennes at Parkhead and Romanian champions Cluj lose against Lazio in Rome.
Jullien believes Celtic have already sent out a strong message with their Europa League displays this season.
And he is not surprised they are outperforming a Rennes side that reached the last 16 of the Europa League last season — losing narrowly to Arsenal — and clinched their first trophy in 48 years when they beat the multimillionaires of PSG in the French Cup final on penalty kicks after a 2-2 draw. ‘It’s not surprised me because even before we played Rennes away from home, I really believed that our team was better,’ said Jullien. ‘Celtic are a quality team — and all the world knows it. We drew 1-1 over in France at Rennes’ home but we really could have won that game. ‘Last year, Rennes had a good year, winning the cup and going far in the Europa League. ‘They have really good young players, although they can be up and down. It’s not surprised me how they have done because our group is really hard. ‘I’m just really happy for us and I’m looking forward to seeing how the second game against Rennes goes. It’s still going to be a really important game, even though we have already qualified for the knockouts.’
Saturday saw Jullien atone for the one blemish on his Celtic CV to date. There were plenty who mocked the 26-year-old after he apologised on social media for his ‘nervous’ performance against Lyndon Dykes in last month’s 2-0 loss to Livingston at the Tony Macaroni Arena.
In his post, he thanked the Livingston forwards for the ‘wake-up call’. Then, after Saturday’s 4-0 thumping of Gary Holt’s Lions, the Frenchman amended that message to take account of the scoreline as he tweeted: ‘That w4ke up call.’
Jullien insists he now feels completely settled in his new surroundings in Scotland — on and off the park — following his £7m summer move to Glasgow.
He said: ‘There’s no VAR in Scotland so it’s more physical, rougher, but I like it. Since I signed, the staff, the club and the fans have been brilliant with me. They have welcomed me with open arms and now I feel good on the pitch.
‘I play with terrific players, who all have major qualities. I’m enjoying life in Scotland. The atmosphere at Celtic Park is unbelievable. I tell people they have to visit it for themselves to believe it.
‘The only negative for me about Scotland is that, at this time of year, the temperature is minus five or six and it gets dark in Glasgow at 4.30pm.
‘If I had a magic wand, I’d love to reach the Europa League final and score ten goals for Celtic this season. We want to equal Celtic’s nine-in-a-row record and then the huge goal next season is to win ten-in-a-row.’
“Moussa is a really good striker but the sky is the limit for Odsonne”