Keeping hold of Edouard might just pay off for Celtic

FOR long enough, the £9million that Celtic paid Paris Saint-Germain for Odsonne Edouard in 2018 looked like reaping them a handsome dividend.

Once described by Brendan Rodgers as ‘one of the best young players in Europe’, the Frenchman’s displays in his first three seasons in Glasgow were worthy of all the hype.

Even allowing for the 40-per-cent slice the Parisian club were due on the profit from any sale, the expectation was that Celtic could still double their money.

Had the pandemic not hit early last year, they might well have done. But a depressed transfer market resulted in no serious bid being received last summer. Through no fault of their own then, Celtic had a depreciating asset on their hands.

Despite still scoring 22 goals in a bleak season that was interrupted by the player himself testing positive for Covid-19 last October, Edouard (below) never appeared to be thrilled with the prospect of spending a fourth season in Glasgow.

Now with one year left on his contract, a parting of the ways this summer seemed mutually beneficial.

It could yet happen in the coming week, of course, but it now seems less likely than ever. Rodgers has cooled on the idea of bringing the player to Leicester. Brighton and Southampton are long-standing admirers but have yet to show the colour of their money.

But if the prospect of Edouard now running down his contract is the antithesis of Celtic’s longstanding business model, John Hartson, for one, believes the club’s directors should take a deep breath and look at the bigger picture.

‘I would love Eddy to stay,’ said the Welshman. ‘I don’t know where the club are with about a week left in the window but I would love to see Kyogo (Furuhashi) and Edouard partnered up for the season. They’ll score 50-plus goals between them.

‘We know what’s at stake this year. There’s £40m on the line for the side that wins the league and goes straight in to the Champions League group stage.

‘What do Celtic do? Rangers are in the same boat with (Alfredo) Morelos and (Ryan) Kent and so on. But with Edouard, I’d try to keep him. He’s still young but it depends on what comes in.

‘They might think £18m is decent money. Celtic sold their best defender in (Kristoffer) Ajer for £13.5m — but that was before the Ange (Postecoglou) factor kicked in.’

Against St Mirren on Saturday, Edouard looked as far removed from a player going through the motions as you could imagine.

Feeding off the craft and energy of those behind him, he seemed fully engaged. His third goal in five games had Parkhead reverberating to the Stone Roses anthem I Wanna Be Adored in his honour.

‘Look how well (Ryan) Christie is playing, (Tom) Rogic and so on,’ said Hartson. ‘Edouard might be thinking he’d like to be part of this. Where else is he going to get this? He’d need to go to the top four in England to get Champions League football.

‘You won’t get it at Southampton or Brighton. It has to be the right club for him to go. These clubs all have money. Most Premier League sides think nothing of spending £40m.

‘It looks like he wants to be a part of it again. You couldn’t fault his attitude. The fans were singing his name again — and that’s not happened for a long time.’

Even if the money is right in the coming week, Edouard would not be human if the prospect of leaving Celtic at this moment didn’t present him with a dilemma.

After an unconvincing start to life in the hot seat, Postecoglou’s methods have now taken root. Spectacularly so.

With new signings bedding in, the Australian’s rapid, possession-based brand of attacking football has seen 24 goals fly in across six matches.

The supply lines to Edouard now resemble a torrent.

‘There’s a feelgood factor at the club,’ said Hartson. ‘There’s a real togetherness and they are playing with a purpose. That front six will frighten any team. They are on a crest of the wave and there’s one thing that guarantees good team spirit — winning games.’

Compared to the outlook after a Champions League exit to Midtjylland and an opening day defeat at Hearts, the picture has brightened dramatically.

While both AZ Alkmaar and Rangers will provide stern tests in the coming days, Celtic are entitled to view both assignments with optimism rather than blind faith.

‘Six weeks ago, I was saying it might take Celtic a year or two to challenge again,’ said Hartson. ‘But you look at how Rangers have slipped up recently and how they struggled against an Alashkert team that scraped past Andy Morrison’s Connah’s Quay.

‘Football isn’t a switch that can be turned off and on. Sunday (at Ibrox) will tell us a lot in terms of how far Celtic have come in those six weeks. But I’m a lot more confident that they will be competitive than I was back then.’