Celtic won’t entertain any bids for Odsonne Edouard when the transfer window opens at the weekend.
The striker’s Celtic deal runs until June 2022 with little prospect of a new deal to extend his stay in Scotland.
Between 18 and 12 months left on a contract is the critical period, beyond next summer Edouard’s value will fall significantly but according to a report in the Daily Record an early transfer isn’t an option:
Celtic will tell AC Milan to forget about getting their hands on Odsonne Edouard in the January sales as the Frenchman is priceless when it comes to the Premiership push. The Serie A giants have stuck the striker on their transfer target short list – with a hitman a top priority given Zlatan Ibrahimovic’s injury problems this season.
Edouard has been flagged up following his impressive goal scoring display in Celtic’s 4-2 defeat at San Siro in the Europa League earlier this month on the back of a hot streak for France under 21s. The £9m former PSG poacher is understood to be one of three main frontmen on Milan’s radar – along with Real Madrid’s Luca Jovic and Genoa’s Gianluca Scamacca, who is on loan at Sassuolo.
Celtic have held talks with Edouard and his representatives and there is an agreement to cash in before his contract expires in the summer of 2022. Parkhead chiefs are hoping to bank more than £30m for the hitman – but they have made it clear there is no chance he will be heading out of the door in January with the club’s 10 in a row hopes hanging in the balance.
The report is written by Michael Gannon who along with Craig Swan supplies most of the Record’s Celtic content.
Edouard’s form this season has been patchy at best but even below par he has shown himself to be more of a goal threat than Albian Ajeti or Patryk Klimala with the return of his partnership with Leigh Griffiths proving fruitful over the last two matches.
During the summer Celtic spent close to £15m on new players without any sales, the result of Saturday’s Glasgow Derby will go a long way towards shaping the outcome of this season’s SPFL title- and deciding policy during the remainder of the transfer window.
