A report in The Daily Record has claimed that former Parkhead boss, Brendan Rodgers, is preparing to launch a £30m bid for Celtic forward Odsonne Edouard.
The paper, however, reveals that the bid won’t be in January and that Rodgers will wait until the end of the season as he looks to strengthen his squad ahead of a potential Champions League campaign, it looks good for Leicester City as they are currently sitting a comfortable second in the Premier League behind Liverpool.
Celtic are believed to be unwilling to sell Edouard at any price during this January transfer window as they look to fend off their city rivals and secure 9-in-a-row, the Frenchman was rumoured to have agreed a deal to leave the Hoops for Monaco in the summer but thankfully, for the Parkhead faithful, he has stayed and propelled his side to the top of the Scottish Premiership and to the knockout stages of the Europa League.
Leicester aren’t the only club credited with an interest with Manchester United, Chelsea and Tottenham Hotspur all credited with an interest in the latest transfer gossip columns, the perfect scenario would be a summer bidding war between Premier League giants.
Edouard isn’t the first player that Rodgers has been linked with at his former club as Callum McGregor had also been rumoured, during the summer, to be the subject of a £20m bid, this was believed to have been scuppered by the Celtic board when Kieran Tierney departed for Arsenal in a Scottish record transfer of £25m.
Rodgers is already an unpopular figure at Celtic Park given the nature of his departure and cherry picking his old club’s best players, especially if it was during this transfer window, would do little to enamour himself with Hoops fans.
Even without the emotional importance of this season, selling Edouard would be a ridiculous move because of how important he has been for the club, with Leigh Griffiths and Vakoun Issouf Bayo not providing much support, he has almost single handedly led the assault for trophies from the front on his own.
When do you think Edouard will leave Celtic?
January 2020
Summer 2020
2021
Edouard won’t be around forever and Celtic should have a succession plan in place for when he does eventually leave but it shouldn’t be at the risk of bringing to a halt the domestic dominance that they have enjoyed for the last nine years, if they want the success to continue into further unprecedented territory.