Celtic boss Brendan Rodgers is contemplating on whether or not he should make the move for Odsonne Edouard a permanent contract at Parkhead, according to a report in The Daily Record.
The striker who is currently plying his trade on loan at Celtic from Paris Saint-Germain signed for the Hoops on deadline day in the summer with on loan until the end of the season but with an option to buy him back to the club.
He is highly rated by the French champions and thought to be worth around £7 million, a deal that would break the club’s transfer record fee which has been in-placed over 15 years since the signing of £6 million signings of Chris Sutton and John Hartson.
Rodgers has been using the young French striker ahead of Moussa Dembele and Leigh Griffiths this season and looking to see how far he will develops over the season.
However, the Northern Irish man has insisted that there is ‘no rush’ in signing the 21-year-old. Rodgers said as quoted via Goal.com:
“I will assess it at the end of the season. He has grown each week he has been with us. There is no rush. It’s for both sides as well. He might love it with us, he might not. I know he is really enjoying it but there is no rush to commit on either side now.
It’s just a case of seeing how it goes in the second half of the season and we’ll review it then. His English is getting better through lessons and he’s still only very young at 19 so he has a lot of potential. I don’t have any qualms if I have to put him into a game.”
Celtic boss also stressed on the needs of signing another attacker in the summer with injuries and knocks meaning a third striker will be needed at the Park Head. He has been influential to the Celtic team and show glimpses of his quality for the team with a goal on his debut against Hamilton and a hat-trick in the 5-1 win over Motherwell last month.
On this Rodgers said:
“It’s not easy to make it work but you can as long as you give clarity to the players in terms of where they are at. They can only play so many games.
We had a situation last year where we only had two strikers. It’s a tough balancing act. I don’t think you can bring a third striker who is an experienced player.
You are looking for a young talent with big potential who knows where he sits in the hierarchy but is always ready. By virtue of that it has kept Moussa and Leigh fitter than they were last year.”
Odsonne Edouard could possible be seen as the replacement for Dembele. There’s similar physical attributes and he has a strong eye for goal. Dembele is being heavily linked with moves to Premier League side Swansea City.
[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oxCFyMBsOpk]