Celtic pundit Russell Boyce has recently made a claim about Odsonne Edouard’s potential Parkhead exit in the January transfer window.
Boyce appeared as a guest on the latest episode of the ‘A Celtic State of Mind’ podcast and the panel discussed multiple issues involving the Bhoys. One topic of discussion was Edouard’s future and the Frenchman’s links with a move to Milan and Juventus. Boyce believes that if the Hoops end up selling the striker in late January, it would bring negative vibes around the club.
It has recently been reported that Edouard is wanted by both Milan and Juve, who are in need of an extra striker in their current squads. It has been stated that the Old Lady want a back-up option for Alvaro Morata, while Stefano Pioli’s men are looking for a back-up for Zlatan Ibrahimovic. Edouard is currently valued at £13.5m.
Will Edouard leave in January?
Yes
No
Boyce has also said that if Celtic sell Edouard early in January and hand Neil Lennon some money to sign a replacement, it may not harm the club.
He said: “I think when they sell him will be important. If they sold him for £30 million on the last day of the window with no replacement, that would say a lot of negative vibes about the mentality.
“If they do it at the beginning of January and give Lennon a healthy chunk of that to go out and bring in someone who can lead the line for the next three, four, five years from wherever that may be – you’d like to think, as we always say, they’ve got contingency plans, although we’re not quite convinced that they do.
“But if they do, if they were to sell him earlier in the window, I wouldn’t have that much of an issue with it if you were talking about numbers like £30 million for a guy who’s perhaps looked like since the start of the season, his heart’s not really in it anymore and is inevitably going to leave in the next 18 months, anyway.”
TIF Thoughts on Boyce’s comments on Edouard…
It has been reported by the Daily Record that Celtic will tell Milan to forget about signing Edouard in January since the striker is ‘priceless’ for the Bhoys.
So while a January exit can be ruled out for the Frenchman, the same report also claims that the Hoops have held talks with Edouard’s agents about the fact that they will sell him before his contract expires in the summer of 2022.
So Celtic shouldn’t be too worried about his January exit and they should feel confident about having their striker at the club till the end of the campaign.