Neil Lennon has revealed his plan to keep Newcastle United target Odsonne Edouard for ‘at least another year’ to protect his value following the COVID-19 crisis.
With finances in football likely to be hit by the global pandemic, the Celtic boss seems reluctant to cash in just as the market threatens to crash – but accepts there’s going to be lots of interest in the prolific Frenchman.
This comes after reports last week claimed he’d been named Newcastle’s ‘top target’ following a series of video meetings between Bruce and his recruitment team, however Lennon has revealed his plan to keep him for ‘at least’ another season.
Speaking to Chris Sutton on BBC Radio 5 Live about the £30m-rated striker, here’s what he had to say:
“Ideally, we’d like to sit down with him (to discuss a new deal)”
“The landscape’s changed, there’s no question, from where we were a month ago, to now.”
“It’s uncertain. So ideally, you’d like to keep your prized assets at least another year anyway and then if the market sort of re-galvanizes itself we can look at it then.”
“But no question there’s going to be interest in him. But ideally, we’ll tie him down for another year on top of what he has already and keep him here.”
“The flip side of that is we could look at other clubs, who are maybe struggling, and maybe we could pinch a few ourselves that possibly we wouldn’t have been able to afford previously.”
With his current deal expiring in two years time, the Scottish Sun claim Celtic chiefs could be tempted to cash in this summer, although it seems Neil Lennon won’t let him leave without a fight.
It’s clear he won’t be with the SPL giants too much longer, with his 27 goals and 19 assists across 2019/20 showing he’s far too good for the Scottish League.
Time will tell if he really is Steve Bruce’s ‘top target’, however we may be waiting a while to find out given the uncertainty surrounding football at present.
