Hammers reportedly favourites in the race for Frenchman ahead of Arsenal & Rodgers – originally posted on Sportslens.com
According to Football Insider, West Ham United have emerged as favourites to bring Celtic striker Odsonne Edouard to the Premier League this summer.
The 23-year-old is also on the radar of Arsenal, Leicester City and Crystal Palace, but the Hammers have laid the groundwork of a deal and have made significant progress in his pursuit behind the scenes in recent days.
West Ham are looking to wrap up a deal before the summer transfer window opens, and it will be interesting to see how things go in the coming weeks.
Celtic demanded £40 million from suitors for Edouard last summer following an impressive campaign that saw him bag 22 goals in 27 Scottish Premiership games before the campaign ended abruptly due to the pandemic.
However, the financial hardship that the coronavirus has put clubs into and his form this term has seen that price drop, and Celtic now fear that he could be worth just around £10 million right now.
The Premiership giants have offered the striker a new deal as he enters the final year of his contract, but he has rejected it as he wants to seek a new challenge elsewhere after four seasons in Scotland.
West Ham will look to sign a new striker this summer after failing to replace Sebastien Haller in January, and Edouard has proven that he has the quality to take the Premier League by storm.
The France youth international has 20 goals and five assists in 35 matches across all competitions this term, taking his tally to 72 goals in 134 games for Celtic, and there is a reason why Leicester boss Brendan Rodgers and his Arsenal counterpart Mikel Arteta want to sign him.
Qualifying for next season’s Champions League will definitely boost the Hammers’ chances of landing their man, and it will be interesting to see where the striker ends up next term.
In other news, West Ham reportedly want Slavia Prague trio this summer.