Former Scotland international, Alan Hutton, has revealed that despite his domestic dominance it will be Odsonne Edouard’s stand-out displays in Europe and for France under-21s that will have clubs knocking on Neil Lennon’s door.
Speaking to Football Insider, Hutton also reveals what Tottenham Hotspur’s own sporting director told him when he moved from Scotland’s top flight to the Premier League for £9m.
So what has Hutton said?
After opening the scoring against Copenhagen on Wednesday, Hutton was asked if stellar appearances on the continent would make it hard to fend off interest in their star man:
“No matter what team you are at, if you are scoring goals as a striker there are going to be teams sniffing about.”
“But playing in the big tournaments, Europe or the international scene, and also doing what you are doing at domestic level – teams will come looking.”
“I will always remember when I went to Tottenham. The sporting director told me that he only watched me in European games and international games. That is just how he looks at it.”
“I think the Scottish league has come on leaps and bounds but that is what he told me.”
So is Hutton correct?
Clubs in the Premier League will always be wary of signing players from Scotland because of the apparent lack of competition, for example, Celtic are currently 12 points clear of Rangers who are nearly 20 points clear of third placed Motherwell.
Edouard also cost £9m, outside of Rangers, this is more than all the other clubs – combined – in the top flight have spent on players for several seasons, by this metric he should be the best player in the league.
Hutton provides a fascinating insight into the scouting of players from north of the border, if anything this will only serve to increase Edouard’s value, time-after-time his quality on the big occasion comes to the fore as he demonstrates he is capable of leading the line on his own or with a partner and is capable of mixing it with the very best.
Should Celtic offer Edouard a new deal to keep him at Parkhead?
Yes
No
There is no shortage of reported suitors for Edouard but the Parkhead club will be desperate to persuade him to stick around for one more season, with 9-in-a-row all but confirmed, there is just one more to go – as the song goes.