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Celtic recruitment team praised as “quality” player lined up amidst Edouard speculation

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It’s no secret that Odsonne Edouard is unlikely to spend his whole career at Parkhead and as such the Celtic recruitment team will have been assessing possible replacements fro some time.

Speaking to Football Insider, Noel Whelan believes that in Daniel Podence of Wolverhampton Wanderers, the Hoops may have found the quality needed – if the worst case scenario was to happen.

So what has Whelan said?

The former Premier League striker appreciates that speculation will only increase when the English transfer window opens and backed Neil Lennon and his team to make the right decision:

“Celtic are in the business where there is going to be speculation about Edouard and we have already seen it. That is only going to become greater when the English season has finished. He will be a name on everyones lips because of how well he has done at Celtic.

“They need to look at other attacking options in case he does go. The groundwork starts now and that is what good clubs do.

“They will have targets in mind and they are trying to get ahead of the game. That is good work by the football club.

“They would need the quality of someone like a Podence if Edouard was to leave, I’m not saying he is going to… but if he was.”

So is Whelan correct?

Whelan is right, Celtic have been good at forward planning for a few years now with the likes of Kristoffer Ajer and Edouard being signed far from the finished article and now key players worth tens of millions of pounds, almost textbook recruitment.

However, Podence only moved to Wolves in January for a reported £16.6million but has struggled to make an impact for the West Midlands club leading The Mirror to report that the Hoops are eyeing him up for a potential loan deal next season.

The only problem with Whelan’s claim is that the Portuguese player is a winger, and wouldn’t be a suitable replacement for Edouard, if the Frenchman does leave – a forward department of Patryk Klimala, Vakoun Issouf Bayo and an out of shape Leigh Griffiths is hardly one that could be relied upon in such an important season.

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