JUST CALL HIM STEADY EDDY

Speculation over Odsonne’s future hasn’t affected the big man one bit, says team-mate Forrest

WHEN it comes to securing a lucrative transfer, there are no hard-and-fast rules on how footballers ensure they get their own way. Some bat their eyelids at would-be suitors and play out a very public courtship. Others hurl their rattle from the pram.

Odsonne Edouard prefers an oldfashioned approach. The Celtic striker continues doing what he does best, safe in the knowledge that nature will eventually take its course.

That his club appear unwilling to listen to offers for the forward in this potentially historic season won’t deter the big guns from down south giving it a try. With his dancing feet making fools of KR Reykjavik’s defenders on Tuesday, his already lofty reputation was further enhanced.

The Frenchman needs no one to tell him of the noise that increasingly surrounds him.

It involves Newcastle, Crystal Palace, Leicester and pretty much any club with a scouting network fit for purpose.

Some in his position would — and have — stamped their feet and screamed in order to get a move, while the form of others would have fallen off a cliff.

Yet the 22-year-old remains as unperturbed by mounting speculation as when staring at the whites of a goalkeeper’s eyes.

‘If it has affected him, he has not shown it anywhere — in the games or at training,’ said team-mate James Forrest.

‘He has just been his usual self, he looks happy here and has said that in interviews. It’s great to see for the club and all the players that you can tell he is working hard in training. He is a massive player for us.

‘He had an unbelievable season last year. Sometimes when we didn’t look like scoring, he’d come up with something out of nowhere.

‘Since he’s come in, he’s just got better and better. All the lads think he’s great to play with because his link-up play is so good, he can beat men with his movement and he’s great to have in the team.

‘He can win games on his own and he produces a lot of assists as well. We just want to make sure he stays here and keeps up the form.’

Edouard first joined Celtic on loan from Paris Saint-Germain in 2017, joining on a four-year deal the following summer for £9million.

In normal circumstances, talk of a transfer fee of upwards of £30m this summer would engage Celtic in conversation.

With ten in a row on the line, however, this season is anything but normal. Even for a club whose business model is the buying, developing and selling-on of players like Edouard, there is a time to take the phone off the hook.

‘Everyone at the club wants him to stay, so we hope that is the case,’ added Forrest. ‘The speculation and the links to other teams is only a good thing because you won’t get linked with the big teams if you are not producing big performances in big games.

‘That is perfect for him. You can look at speculation being unsettling but I think you can make it a positive.

‘Being linked with these teams will just make him keep putting in big performances.

‘You saw him in the Europa League last year — he had a lot of big goals and big performances.

‘That’s good for his confidence as well, getting linked with these big teams, but Celtic are a big team as well. We want to be in the Champions League and you are going for trophies here.

‘Odsonne enjoys it here. You can see that with his performances because he puts in great ones.’

The fact Edouard opted to remain in Glasgow during lockdown as opposed to returning to France tends to back up that view.

While there will inevitably be a mutually beneficial parting of the ways at some point, his affinity with Celtic and his adopted country seems entirely genuine.

‘He worked hard in lockdown and came back in pre-season and looked fit,’ said Forrest.

‘He has looked fit and strong throughout pre-season and started the season off scoring a few goals.

‘He is really quiet and really chilled — that’s his character — but definitely in the past couple of months, his English has improved.

‘So he has come more out of his shell in the last couple of months.’

Such is supporters’ emotional investment in the game that some will never view a player’s departure as anything other than a betrayal. Just ask Kieran Tierney.

A lifelong Celtic supporter who lived the dream, his departure to Arsenal for £25m a year back led to such accusations from a small minority.

Tierney this week revealed his dismay at seeing ‘Judas’ spraypainted on a wall near his Lanarkshire home after moving to London — a matter that had left him ‘scared’ to return to Celtic Park.

Speaking not only as a friend of Tierney but as someone who knows the allure of the top end of the English game, Forrest hopes the full-back will be welcomed back with open arms.

‘One hundred per cent,’ he said. ‘Everyone knows how mad KT is about Celtic, and maybe it will just take time.

‘He worked so hard coming through the youth (system) here, and he put in some great performances and had so many great memories with Celtic.

‘So, I think over time he’ll definitely be welcomed back.

‘He still texts all the boys and he still watches all the games that he can.

‘It was obviously difficult for him, and I remember at the time it was difficult for his family, too.

‘It’s the only club he had ever been at and it was the first time that he moved, and I think that made it harder for him.’

One by one, the side who won the

Treble undefeated in 2016-17 are moving on.

Tom Rogic, scorer of the clincher against Aberdeen in that season’s Scottish Cup final, is the subject of interest from Qatar.

Although the Australian playmaker appears to have reached the natural end of his time at Celtic, Forrest believes he will leave an indelible mark on the club’s history.

‘I get on really well with Tom off the park, and on the park we’ve played really well together,’ added the winger.

‘He has had loads of great memories with Celtic and won loads of stuff. He’s been a big player over the years.

‘I don’t know what’s going to happen, if he’ll stay or go but, either way, he has been massive for the club over the years.

‘Everyone here hopes he stays but, if he doesn’t, it’s definitely been a positive few years in his career.’