Rodgers denies Celtic’s Odsonne Edouard clause is £7m

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Celtic have the opportunity to make Odsonne Edouard’s loan deal permanent at the end of the season.

In comments reported by Herald Scotland, Brendan Rodgers has hailed Celtic loanee Odsonne Edouard as one of the most gifted players that he has been able to work with, while he also denied that it will cost £7 million to sign the 20-year-old on a permanent basis.

Edouard has enjoyed a promising loan spell with the Hoops. After an initial slow start, the Frenchman has seemingly found his feet in the last few months, particularly in the last three games.

After changing the game in the Scottish Cup tie with Morton at the start of the month, he made himself the hero by scoring a sumptuous winner at Ibrox. Unsurprisingly, the calls for his deal to made long-term increased significantly after those results.

Rodgers avoided confirming anything regarding his future, but did insist that he had been hugely impressed by the Paris Saint-Germain-owned youngster and suggested that there is no truth in the reports that the permanent clause in his loan deal is set at £7 million.

“Where have you got the figure from?” he said, as reported by Herald Scotland when asked about the reported £7 million clause. “No – it’s not that. I’m not telling you what it is, but it’s not that.”

“I’ve said from day dot that I see the player every day and he’s one of the most gifted players I’ve worked with,” he added. “Because his representatives aren’t running about throwing him to every club under the sun it doesn’t mean he’s not a top player.”

“The clause is there and there’s been an agreement but we would need to trigger the fee. There’s a lot to do in terms of the bigger picture too. In time we’ll see. He’s a fantastic player and we’ll see between now and the end of the season,” he concluded.

While it is a case of simply reading between the lines, the amount of praise that Rodgers has lauded Edouard with certainly does hint that if it is down to the Bhoys boss, he will be at Parkhead next year.

It would perhaps be a bad move to make such glowing comments if he knew that signing the forward permanently was not an option for the Hoops, so perhaps there is a sign there that Rodgers wants a long-term deal for the starlet.