Brendan Rodgers has been praised by Kris Commons

Celtic in advanced talks to sign centre-forward in stunning late-window deal - report

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Published on:

30 Aug 2017, 3:29 am

By Harry Sykes

Celtic are close to signing Paris Saint-Germain centre-forward Odsonne Edouard on loan, according to a report.

French publication Le Parisien claim the Scottish treble winners are on the verge of striking a stunning last-gasp deal for the highly rated forward.

It is said that Celtic are in talks to land Edouard on a loan deal that will run for the entirety of the season.

Edouard, a powerful 19-year-old forward, has yet to play for the club Celtic will face in the Champions League this season but did enough while on loan at Toulouse last season to catch the eye of Brendan Rodgers.

The Celtic manager is believed to have been in the French capital last week and it’s understood Edouard was one of the prime reasons for his visit.

With Moussa Dembele likely to miss the start of the European campaign and Leigh Griffiths’ calf complaints showing no signs of receding, Rodgers has made the capture of another front-line option his priority.

Born in French Guiana, Edouard joined PSG’s academy as a 13-year-old before progressing to its B team.

Farmed out to Toulouse last season, Edouard scored just once in 16 appearances and was developing to his parent club’s satisfaction before the deal was terminated in bizarre fashion in February after the player was suspected of having shot at a passer-by with an air gun - injuring him in the head.

Football Insider verdict:

Celtic's timing is good. Having signed Neymar from Barcelona for £196million and close to capturing the signature of Monaco striker Kylian Mbappe for £140million, Qatari-owned PSG now prepared to loan out their best emerging talents. With doubts over Dembele's fitness and medium-term commitment to the Hoops, Edouard has the chance to make a name for himself in Scotland and could even be his fellow Frenchman's long-term successor as the spearhead of the Celtic attack.

In other Celtic transfer news, a BBC commentator has claimed the club will be in Europe post-Christmas if they sign this player by Thursday night.

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Celtic

Odsonne Edouard