Lennon has said that with Celtic qualifying for the group stage of the Europa League this season, the Scottish Premiership giants will not entertain the idea of cashing in on the French striker.
The Scottish Sun reported on August 27 that Leeds and Villa were among the clubs who scouted the French striker in the Scottish Premiership game between Dundee United and Celtic at Tannadice Park on August 22.
Everton, Newcastle United, Leicester City and Crystal Palace are also interested in the 22-year-old striker, who is rated at £30 million, according to the report.
Celtic booked their place in the group stage of the Europa League last night, and manager Lennon has said that Edouard will be at the Glasgow giants after the summer transfer window closes next week.
Lennon told The Daily Record about Edouard: “I’m very confident he’ll still be here after Monday night. In fact, I think I’m very confident they will all still be here.
“We’re very strong on it, we don’t want to sell any of our players — and we don’t need to now. Maybe if we hadn’t qualified it would’ve been something the board would’ve had to look at. But, that’s not an issue for us now.”
Moving on
Lennon’s aforementioned comments suggest that Leeds and Villa will have to move on from their reported pursuit of Edouard.
With Celtic playing in the Europa League and aiming to make it 10 Scottish Premiership titles in a row this season, it is hard to see the Hoops entertain even big offers for the striker now, especially as they simply do not have enough time to find and bring in a suitable replacement.
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