Celtic midfielder Olivier Ntcham hopes teammate Odsonne Edouard will stay at the club at the end of the season but stresses that he can’t force him, reports the Daily Record.
Edouard joined the Hoops from Paris Saint-Germain last summer on loan and is set to return to his parent club in the coming weeks.
The 20-year-old has made 27 appearances in all competitions for Celtic this season, scoring and creating 12 goals.
The French u19 international has impressed with regular first-team football, something he wouldn’t get with PSG due to Edinson Cavani commanding a starting place, and Ntcham believes staying at Celtic would be the best thing for his development as a result.
“The more Osdonne plays the more he improves. He is happy here. I won’t try to persuade him because he is his own man. But he knows how I feel. It helps a lot to have fellow French players. I had two at Genoa as well.
“Even on the pitch, when you don’t understand something they can help you. Kolo has helped us a lot because he can explain that things could be better if you try it another way. Selectors in France know we are developing because they come over to see some games.”
Edouard has competition in the Celtic side, with Moussa Dembele and Leigh Griffiths vying to lead the line, but the 20-year-old could become an important player next season should Dembele leave in the summer.
The 21-year-old has been linked with a move away from Parkhead, which could mean Brendan Rodgers gives Edouard more game time in 2018/19.
Although impressing out on loan, Paris Saint-Germain have no desire to promote the striker to the first-team next season and were instead considering sending him to Vitoria for a year.