Scott Brown tells Celtic ace Odsonne Edouard to stick around for ten in a row

English clubs eyeing striker but skipper wants winning side to stay together
Odsonne Edouard was Celtic's top scorer as they clinched the title. Picture: Craig Foy / SNSOdsonne Edouard was Celtic's top scorer as they clinched the title. Picture: Craig Foy / SNS
Odsonne Edouard was Celtic's top scorer as they clinched the title. Picture: Craig Foy / SNS

Celtic captain Scott Brown has urged Odsonne Edouard to stay with the champions for their bid to win a record-breaking 10th consecutive league title next season.

French striker Edouard was Celtic’s leading scorer with 22 goals in the curtailed 2019-20 campaign which saw them declared nine-in-a-row champions following an SPFL board meeting on Monday.

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The 22-year-old has two years remaining on his contract and has been linked with a summer move to the English Premier League with both Arsenal and Newcastle United believed to have a firm interest in taking him south.

But Celtic skipper Brown is hopeful his club can retain the services of all of their current squad as they look to make history in 2020-21.

“Things can change in football,” said Brown. “Players can move on and changes can happen.

“That’s just part of the game, but it would be great if all the lads could still be here and we could go on again into next season, if it was possible.”

As he reflected on his personal 10th title success with Celtic, having won it for the first time in 2007-08 before playing in every season of the current record-equalling sequence, Brown expressed sympathy for his team-mates not being able to celebrate with the supporters in the traditional manner at a trophy-day presentation.

He hopes that will help motivate Celtic’s more recent signings for future success and also enable the permanent recruitment of loanees such as goalkeeper Fraser Forster.

“Boys like Christopher Jullien and Greg Taylor who joined us this season, they want to enjoy those celebrations, yet everyone is stuck in the house and the medal might get posted to the house,” added Brown.

“Ideally, there would have been the chance for the boys to lift the trophy in front of 60,000 at Celtic Park and to celebrate it with the fans.

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“That’s not going to happen for a long, long time, though, it seems.

“I feel for those lads, but they are at the right club and they are going to win other trophies. So it would be good to keep as many players as we possibly can into next season who know what it’s like to win the trophy.

“I don’t know what the situation is with the loans, for example. I’m not sure what happens there.

“But it would be great to get big Fraser back. The big man has enjoyed his time here and he’s been fantastic.

“Mo Elyounoussi also did really well for us until his injury stopped him. He was just getting back to fitness and we were looking forward to him getting back. It’s hard when they are on loan in this situation. We might not see them again.

“It’s the same with boys like Jonny Hayes and Craig Gordon who are out of contract this summer.

“We don’t know what’s happening but we have players who know what it’s like to win trophies and titles and you want as many of them as you can in your squad.”

Brown has again dismissed any suggestion that Celtic’s latest title win is in any way devalued by the Premiership campaign not being played to a finish on the pitch. When football was suspended by the coronavirus pandemic in March, Neil Lennon’s side were 13 points clear of Rangers who had a game in hand with 27 points left to play for.

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“I think everyone knows that this season has been totally different,” added Brown. “Nothing like this has happened in our lifetimes and we hope that nothing like this ever happens again. We have to make sure people are safe and not worry about other things.

“But, at the end of the day, we have been the best team in Scotland all year. We have been the best team in Scotland for the past eight years before this one as well.

“They have had 85 per cent of the season to try to catch us and nobody has managed to do it. It shows our willingness to keep pushing and keep creating history. We’re still doing that now.”

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