Arsenal join Leicester in battle to sign Celtic striker Edouard

Arsenal are competing with Leicester City and a handful of Europe’s biggest clubs in the race for Celtic striker Odsonne Edouard.

Leicester remain the favourites to sign Edouard this summer, but it is understood that Arsenal have not given up hope of persuading the 23-year-old to move to the Emirates.

Arsenal are set for an overhaul of their forward line this summer, with Alexandre Lacazette and Eddie Nketiah going into the final year of their contracts.

Edouard will also have one year remaining on his deal at the end of this season, meaning that Celtic will have to sell him if they want to generate any money for their top scorer.

A fee of around £15-20million is expected to be enough to lure Edouard away from Celtic, where he has scored 19 goals in 33 appearances this season.

Arsenal would hope to raise a similar amount through the sale of Lacazette, if they do not extend the Frenchman’s contract. Lacazette has looked certain to leave for most of this season, but his upturn in form, including two goals in Sunday’s 3-0 win at Sheffield United, could yet prompt a change of plans for the club.

Arsenal’s spending power will also be dictated by the final few weeks of the season and their hunt for European football next year. They are now reliant on winning the Europa League to qualify for next season’s Champions League.

Edouard is a former team-mate of Arsenal left-back Kieran Tierney and the striker has plenty of admirers south of the border. He played under Brendan Rodgers during the Leicester manager’s time at Celtic.

Edouard initially joined Celtic on loan in 2017 before moving permanently from Paris St-germain a year later. A regular for France at youth level, he has scored 17 goals in 13 appearances for their under-21 side.

Teenage forward Folarin Balogun, 19, has decided to stay at Arsenal and is close to a new deal.