In more transfer news today there are claims that Celtic forward and long-time alleged Everton target Odsonne Edouard is certain to be moving on in the summer window.
According to reports in the media the young striker is now likely to leave Celtic for pastures new, which will interest a number of English Premier League clubs, including perhaps Everton too.
The Toffees have been linked with Eduoard on and off for a while now, mind you as always there aren’t many players the Blues don’t get linked to these days!
This story is classic pure speculation but the claim is that the Frenchman will be moving on this summer and it seems the departure of Neil Lennon from the Parkhead hotseat could be a contributing factor.
Everton do need further forward reinforcements and more pace and goals, so the question is would Edouard fit the bill?
Well he’s young at 23, which means presumably his best years are still ahead of him and he’s been scoring plently of goals in recent seasons for the Glasgow club. Although he’s had a more difficult campaign this time round with the speculation about his future perhaps playing it’s part, Edouard is on course for his best goal tally yet.
The former French Under-21 player is also able to play wide on either flank or up front so he brings versatility as well.
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The other aspect of a player like him is that he is much more affordable than other young forwards in Europe. Transfermarkt.co.uk give him a value of £13 million, which is more likely to be in the Toffees range given recent comments by Carlo Ancelotti about spending in future transfer windows.
The obvious caveat is that he has been scoring these goals in the Scottish Premiership, which with all due respect is not on the same level as England’s Premier League.
Having said that though there are players who have made the move from Celtic down south and done well. One example of course is Virgil Van Dijk who went to Southampton and then moved to Anfield and is now arguably the best centre-back in Europe.
It does seem more probable that if Edouard leaves the Scottish champions he will return to France, but if a deal was on, although he would be a bit of a gamble, I think he fits the mold of the type of young forward Everton need to be looking at to provide additional options and competition up front.
He is a little bit like a younger version of Joshua King and depending on how King’s move works out perhaps a player like Edouard would be the better sort of longer-term bet.