Coach’s praise suggests Celtic have missed a gem in ‘deadly’ Stephen Odey

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Celtic cooled their interest in Stephen Odey after Nigerian side Mountain of Fire refused to let him train with the Scottish Premiership champions.

Celtic have missed out on two of Nigeria’s most highly-rated young attackers since the turn of the year.

According to the Scottish Sun, they made a £1 million bid for KAS Eupen phenomenon Henry Onyekuru in January – only for the prolific striker to agree a move to Everton a few months later for £6 million more.

And reports in AllNigeriaSoccer that Celtic were leading the chase for domestic-based goal-machine Stephen Odey, the 19-year-old who top scored in Nigeria’s top flight with the brilliantly named Mountain of Fire last season, came to nothing.

ScoreNigeria even reported in August that Odey had been offered a £5,000-a-week contract with Celtic manager Brendan Rodgers a big fan. Yet, Mountain of Fire refused to let the 19-year-old depart during the season to train in Glasgow, leading the Scottish champions to cool their interest.

Odey has made the move to Europe since, however, joining Swiss side FC Zurich on a four-year deal.

“Stephen Odey was exceptional when he was with us. He has moved on and I wish him the best,” coach Fidelis Ilechukwu told Completesportsnigeria.com.‎ “We will get another striker to replace Odey by the grace of God. We’ll get a good striker.

“The CAF Champions League and NPFL will not be easy next season so we need a good replacement who will be as deadly in front of goal as Odey was.”

‘Exceptional’, ‘Deadly’. Either Ilechukwu throws around adjectives as keenly as his Celtic counterpart Rodgers or The Hoops have missed out on a real talent.

Therefore, Rodgers will be hoping that Odsonne Edouard, another highly-rated 19-year-old striker who signed on loan from PSG this summer, will prove a more successful addition to their side than Odey would have.

Considering that Edouard plundered eight goals in five games at the Under-17 European Championships in 2015, winning the Golden Ball and Golden Boot combo, Celtic should not be too disppointed.