Leicester £5m short as asking price for top target is driven up due to clause
Leicester City are willing to offer £15m for Odsonne Edouard this summer, but Celtic are holding out for £20m, according to reports.
Edouard has been linked with a move to the King Power Stadium to reunite with former Celtic boss Brendan Rodgers. The striker is about to enter the last year of his contract at Celtic and wants a new challenge. Leicester are looking for a long-term successor to Jamie Vardy and could bid for Edouard to complement Kelechi Iheanacho.
TEAMtalk exclusively revealed earlier this month that Leicester were growing increasingly confident of signing Edouard this summer. There is a lot of competition for his signature but the Foxes think they have won the race.
But there is still some work to do as they look to convince Celtic into selling. The Scottish club are aware that Edouard will be on his way this summer, but still want to get the right price for him.
According to the Daily Record, Celtic want to receive £20m for Edouard – £5m more than Leicester think they can get him for.
When Celtic signed Edouard from Paris Saint-Germain, the French side included a sell-on clause in his contract. Therefore, Celtic will want to make sure they keep hold of a decent chunk of money if they are to sell him.
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But they are open to letting him go now, as they think his head was turned last summer and that led to a downturn in form. Still, he has managed 16 goals in 26 Scottish Premiership appearances this season.
After also attracting interest from the likes of Arsenal and West Ham, Edouard remains one of Europe’s most promising strikers. Leicester will be hoping to benefit from the 23-year-old’s talents next season.
Edouard rejected Liverpool
One club Edouard will not be ending up at, it seems, is Liverpool. Reports last month claimed Jurgen Klopp had personally called him but the talks were unsuccessful.
There were rumours of a potential swap deal between Edouard and Divock Origi. However, that will not be materialising.
Anfield Central reported that the Frenchman told Klopp he was not sure where he would fit into their attack. Klopp currently has four options at his disposal in Sadio Mane, Mohamed Salah, Roberto Firmino and Diogo Jota.
And despite looking like a would-be replacement for Firmino, it seems Edouard did not rate his prospects. As such, the former PSG youngster politely declined Klopp’s advances.
However, it would not come as a surprise to see Edouard find his way into the Premier League.
READ MORE: Brendan Rodgers told Leicester is ‘far better club’ than suitors Tottenham
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