Former Celtic striker Craig Beattie has insisted that there is no risk in the Hoops smashing their transfer record to land Odsonne Edouard.
Beattie, who played up front for the Hoops in the early stages of the 2000s, thinks that they’ve landed a player who has proven that he can score goals.
“What they got with them was guaranteed goals and experience, but what they have done now is bring in youth and potential,” Beattie told the Scottish Sun.
“But we are talking about a player who has already been there, so he knows the club. He knows what is expected of him and is well aware he’ll face competition for a starting place.”
Edouard, 20, spent last season on loan at Celtic Park, and scored 11 goals over his 29 club appearances, which gave Brendan Rodgers just cause to part ways with £9million.
This fee represents the second largest ever by a Scottish Premier League team, only beat out by Rangers £12million capture of Tore Andre Flo back in 2000.
OPINION
What Craig Beattie has said could be true, if the player involved had scored much more goals. There’s no doubting Edouards’ talent, and the future certainly looks bright for the striker, but there is always a certain element of risk involved when spending big on a young player. The 20-year-old bagged himself 11 goals last season, a little over one every three games he played, which is impressive given his age, but not prolific. The Hoops fans are loyal, and will certainly give Edouard the time to progress at Celtic, but justification for becoming the Scottish Premier Leagues second most expensive player will be needed in due course. Brendan Rodgers certainly knows what he is doing, and has shown his faith in the 20-year-old, the loan period certainly helped him to make his mind up before pulling the trigger. Hoops fans will be happy to see that Edouard has committed his immediate future to the club, and as is the case so many times, Celtic might be able to secure a pretty sell on fee in the future. Beattie is absolutely correct regarding youth and potential, and Edouard’s is off the scale. The forward will be in contention to start next season, and will be looking to pick up exactly where he left off.