Sometime in the next three weeks, we’re going to get an announcement on the official site about Odsonne Edouard. Either the club will confirm that he’s gone back to PSG or they will announce that we’ve activated the clause in his loan contract that allows us to make him a permanent part of the Celtic team. Obviously, we all hope for the latter.
Rumours continue to swirl about what the precise nature of PSG’s contract with us says. The press tried to make out recently that it was subject to their fluctuating mood; this is not true. Reports said we had until the end of this month; that was not true. Media outlets said the deal was going to cost us £10 million. That was not true either.
Both clubs have an iron clad deal. Celtic has an option to buy set a specific price, and one that is far below the crazier sums in the media. In fact, Brendan said it was under the £7 million which every media outlet initially reported. The figure is probably somewhere around £5 million, although that too is purely conjecture.
Neither club is unhappy with the arrangement. PSG know the kid will not be a first team player there; like many top European clubs they are impatient with the idea of development when they have the resources to go outside their walls and sign the real thing. Only Financial Fair Play regulations might force clubs to do things differently; in another year or two maybe this deal would have been harder to get over the line.
Because there remains one fly in the ointment, but I don’t anticipate it being a stumbling block in this case. It’s if PSG say to the player “we want you to stay and be part of our future.” It’s up to Odsonne, ultimately, if he wants to commit himself to Celtic. Our option to buy does not come with a guarantee. The player has to want the move.
Thankfully, all the signs in that area are positive ones.
Edouard appears to love it at Celtic Park and “French Eddie” (thanks Phil!) appears more than willing to put his signature on the dotted line. The kid wants to be part of the next phase of the Brendan Revolution, and that’s a measure of how Celtic has treated him and of how he views life under the current boss.
I fully expect that we’ll have the deal done well in advance of the closing date. It may even be timed, spectacularly, for Friday; we know what’s happening on that date, so why not steal a little of the thunder by reminding this hapless mob who the biggest club is?
Of course, a club such as ours would never do that, would we?
To spoil a man’s honeyman before the bachelor party had even finished?
That would be naughty, wouldn’t it?
That would be petty and childish and hilarious and brilliant and it would be a PR masterclass.
That’s why I won’t be remotely surprised if it happens.