Odsonne Edouard is Celtic’s most expensive signing.
John Hartson has told The Glasgow Evening Times he believes that Celtic hitman Odsonne Edouard should be cut some slack, saying he’s only a ‘baby’ in football terms.
The 20-year-old has only managed 10 goals across 24 appearances in all competitions since joining Celtic for a club-record £9 million fee last summer.
Leigh Griffiths’s extended absence with personal problems has only increased the pressure on the French marksman, who is the Hoops’ main source of goals until manager Brendan Rodgers can get one or two strikers in during the January transfer window.
Edouard struggled in Sunday’s 2-0 defeat away to Hibernian, and was also booked for diving which only added to the backlash.
But former Celtic forward Hartson is adamant that he’s a ‘seriously big talent’ and one who doesn’t need excess criticism.
He told The GET: “Odsonne Edouard is, in football terms, a baby. He is 20 years old, playing in a foreign land with a record price tag on his back and, I believe, a seriously big talent. I like him a lot. Edouard is struggling a bit at the moment for form, but he should be cut some slack.
“I thought he had a really poor night against Salzburg and he wasn’t much better, if at all, on Sunday.
“I could see how frustrated he was when he dived at Easter Road. It wasn’t even a good dive as he attempted to win a penalty. But you have to expect that with such a young player.”
You can see Hartson’s point but, then again, Edouard knows what he was signing up for when he agreed to join Celtic and become their most expensive player of all time.
Such a price-tag brings about such a pressure and the former Paris Saint-Germain ace – affectionately known as ‘French Eddy’ by the Parkhead faithful – has to accept that the more expensive you are, the more criticism you’re going to attract.
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