Former Celtic star, Kris Commons, has given Hoops fans a boost with the news that he feels Odsonne Edouard will be at Parkhead for the duration of the club’s 10-in-a-row bid.
In his Daily Mail column, reported by The Daily Record, Commons pinpoints exactly why the French youth international is going nowhere this summer.
So what has Commons said?
When asked to reflect on the constant speculation surrounding the 22-year old, he said:
“The suggestion seems to be that a failure to reach the group stage of the Champions League would inevitably hasten his departure prior to the transfer window closing in October.
“I totally disagree with that. For me, there’s absolutely no chance that Celtic will even contemplate selling their star striker at this late juncture. That ship has sailed.
“The season is already under way. If they were of a mind to cash-in on Edouard, they’d have done it six weeks ago to give themselves time to find a suitable replacement.
“The signing of Albian Ajeti changes nothing in that respect. Despite the £5m fee, there’s no way he’s been bought as a direct replacement for Edouard.
“You don’t replace one of the best young strikers in Europe with a boy who was warming the bench for West Ham last season.”
So is Commons correct?
He has to be admired for his positivity but there are several factors that he has blatantly not taken into consideration.
For a start, the transfer window in most of the top five leagues has not long been opened, even if Celtic wanted to, they couldn’t have sold him six weeks ago as the former Sky Sports pundit suggests.
There is also the question of Albian Ajeti, he may have underperformed at West Ham but he was barely given a chance and his form at Basel before he moved to the Premier League demonstrates that he is the sort of player who could replace Edouard.
Celtic wouldn’t sell Edouard until they had someone capable of stepping up and Ajeti has only just arrived, if they’d sold him six weeks ago, they would only have had Patryk Klimala as a fit striker – hardly ideal preparation.
Will Edouard be at Celtic after the window shuts?
Yes
No
It will be a long and anxious wait to see if Neil Lennon’s talisman is still strutting his stuff in the Hoops after the window shuts, but any striker departures in the Premier League top six could cause for a few sleepless nights in the east end of Glasgow.