Crystal Palace have joined the race to sign a former Celtic ace, which would see a reunion with a fellow French graduate of the PSG Academy.
Crystal Palace signed Odsonne Edouard from the Parkhead side in 2021 for a fee of around £14m.
Edouard netted 87 times in 179 appearances for Celtic during his four-year spell at the club. Originally signed on loan from Paris Saint-Germain, the Frenchman showed early glimpses of his potential, scoring 11 goals during his loan spell.
There was genuine hope that the young striker was going to be ‘the next’ Moussa Dembele, who had attracted a lot of interest after two prolific seasons in Glasgow, and, talking to the Daily Record at the time of his move and the prospect of playing with his countryman, Edouard said:
“Moussa comes from the PSG academy as well and, when you look at his career so far, then him coming here is an example to every player going through that academy. He gives everyone motivation by seeing how he has grown and how he has improved. He has become a really good player and, in coming here, I am really looking forward to learning a lot from him in terms of his development. I have to say that I am looking forward to playing with him and spending time with him and we will certainly have time to discuss loads of things and what it is like to be here.”
Dembele had become a fans’ favourite around Celtic Park, scoring 51 goals in 94 appearances across all competitions, and the affection he received from fans was also helped by his apparent love of scoring against fierce rivals Rangers.
With Dembele making his way out of Celtic Park a year after Edouard joined on loan, Celtic brought in Eddy on a permanent deal as his replacement.
After his transfer to Lyon, Dembele spoke to the Daily Record about his former partner:
“The only bad point is that we didn’t play together earlier. We knew that if we played together, we’d do something good. When he first came, he was a bit shy. Because we come from the same place, I tried to help him, I gave him a lot of advice and after that he changed, from one player to another.”
“Odsonne is a very very good player, he will go straight to the top. I think we saw what he was capable of this season. He’s a fantastic player, a player that I rate and hopefully he’ll go to the very top with Celtic. I wish him only good luck.”
Edouard would indeed go to the very top at Celtic just like Dembele predicted.
In his time in a Celtic jersey, the man hailed as “French Eddy” was part of three consecutive treble-winning teams, but his spell in London has been less fruitful.
Edouard may still team up with Dembele at Palace, and it will be a case of what might have been for Celtic fans who got a glimpse of the devastation they could have caused teams in the green and white hoops.
BOBBY GORDON
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