Report suggests Arsenal and Liverpool don’t want to pay £20m for ‘world class’ attacker

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Liverpool, Arsenal and Leicester City have been linked with Odsonne Edouard but, according to EuroSport, there aren’t many clubs willing to meet Celtic’s £20 million price tag.

This time last year, there would have been a queue longer than the M1 if Celtic were willing to sell their star striker for £20 million.

But, with the covid crisis hitting the finances of even England’s biggest clubs, suddenly a willy-nilly, kid-in-a-sweet-shop approach to spending seems a thing of the past – for now at least.

Furthermore, Edouard’s once-glittering reputation isn’t quite what it was.

The France U21 star has still scored 20 times this season but his performance levels have dipped substantially during a miserable campaign for a Celtic side that lost its Scottish Premiership crown to bitter rivals Rangers.

According to EuroSport, there are few clubs willing to pay £20 million for Edouard in the current market.

The report adds that Leicester, managed by former Hoops boss Brendan Rodgers, were his most likely suitors but the form of Kelechi Iheanacho has raised doubts over whether another big-money striker is required at the King Power.

The Scottish Daily Mail (26 February, page 2) reported Arsenal and Aston Villa were also mulling over a move for Edouard. The former Paris Saint-Germain youngster has admirers at Jurgen Klopp’s Liverpool too (Transfer Window Podcast).

But with interest drying, what do Celtic do now?

Do they keep Edouard for another year in the hope he can rediscover his golden touch and wrestle the title back from Rangers before letting him go for free when his contract expires?

Or do they drop his price tag by a couple of million more? £18 million, £15 million or even £10 million is better than nothing after all.

“Yeah, he’s world class,” Celtic teammate David Turnbull said a few weeks ago, via the Record.

“He is a great player to play with. I can link up well with him. You know he is going to do something magic or play a one-two with you.”