Pundit Lawrence Connolly has recently made a claim stating his belief that Odsonne Edouard is happy at Parkhead, amid uncertainty over his immediate future.
Connolly was a guest on the latest episode of the ‘A Celtic State of Mind’ podcast and the panel discussed multiple issues involving the Bhoys. They also talked about Edouard’s future at Celtic.
Neil Lennon had to answer questions over the reasons for omitting the Frenchman from the starting XI at the weekend, confirming that Edouard had informed him that he wasn’t feeling fit enough to start against Livingston. As a result, the Frenchman was left on the bench. The 22-year-old has scored five goals in all competitions this season, scoring four times in the Premiership. Edouard, who is currently valued at £13.5m, has been linked with a move away this summer, with Arsenal among his potential suitors (16.14).
Connolly believes that while his absence against Livingston was ‘unusual’, the Frenchman seems happy at Parkhead.
Is Edouard happy at Celtic?
Yes
No
He said: “A lot of power lies with the players. Eddie seems fairly happy, I know he asked to be rested, which was unusual and there’s been a bit of speculation off the back of it but [he] generally seems really happy at Celtic, I think. Out of the two, we would be more likely to lose [Kristoffer] Ajer, which is maybe why we’re looking at more centre-halves just now.”
TIF Thoughts…
Edouard found the back of the net 27 times in all competitions last season and racked up 19 assists for the Bhoys. In the Premiership, he had directly contributed to 33 goals in 27 outings.
His numbers clearly show that he is a vital contributor to goals for Celtic. Edouard’s agent has already said that the striker is ‘happy’ at Parkhead and the club’s chase of their 10th Premiership title in a row is ‘important’ for him. His agent also said that while playing in the Champions League is ‘important’ for Edouard, it isn’t exactly ‘crucial’ for his career at this point.
So it seems as if Connolly’s comments are pretty justified and Edouard is indeed happy to stay at Celtic.