Odsonne Edouard transfer: what will Celtic do if they get a £30million offer for him? | OneFootball

Transfer season is in full swing, and the most fevered speculation in Scottish football is whether Odsonne Edouard will stay at Celtic…

The advantage of the Scottish Premiership season starting a while before the rest of Europe is: more Scottish football, and quickly.

The disadvantage is that, with the transfer window open until October 5, there’s nearly two months for them to be distracted by the Odsonne Edouard transfer saga.

Edouard, by common consensus the best striker Celtic have had in a generation, probably since Henrik Larsson left in 2004, is naturally the subject of frenzied rumour and speculation, linking him with a number of clubs across Europe. Brighton, Leeds, Aston Villa, even Arsenal and Manchester United have all been credited with an interest.

But with Neil Lennon saying that keeping Edouard was ‘pivotal’ to Celtic’s season as they go for their tenth league title in a row, and the season now well underway, would they really actually sell him?

“Absolutely they would,” said JJ Bull on The Totally Scottish Football Show this week. “If they get £30-35million, they can’t turn that down. It’s their whole business model: you turn a player into being worth money then you sell them on.”

So assuming someone does pony up the required money, what then for Celtic? They’ve been credited with an interest in several strikers, including Lyle Taylor, out of contract after impressing for Charlton next season, but their options are varied.

“It would be interesting to see what they would do if they would lose Edouard,” said JJ Bull.

“There’s lots of noise linking them with Steven Fletcher. He would be quite expensive, even if it was just for one season. They’ve also been linked with Albian Ajeti who’s at West Ham, but he’s more of a forward rather than a striker.”

Celtic suffered a minor blip at the weekend, only managing to draw 1-1 with Kilmarnock, but JJ didn’t seem to think it was a hugely concerning performance.

“John Hartson said he thought Edouard was a bit disappointing: I just thought he couldn’t get on the ball because Kilmarnock defended so well.

“Celtic, as Neil Lennon said, weren’t quite on it. They suffered a bit with the tempo of the game. Against Hamilton it was a bit too easy at times, but this time they couldn’t quite get into it.

“It’s just one of those games: Celtic had quite a few shots, some from long range, some on target, Killie defended really well and earned a point.”

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