You would have to commend Celtic if they are successful in getting a deal for Odsonne Edouard over the line this week.

It is a signing that will delight the support who can appreciate not only are the club going out of their way to back the manager but also that that they are getting in a young player who has great potential. Working under Brendan Rodgers you can only expect that he will get eve better given what we have seen in terms of getting the best out of people and players.

The only thing I would say – and I speak from some experience here – is that it is a delicate balancing act in terms of keeping three top-class strikers happy.

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On the plus side, you have three centre-forwards who all bring something different to the table. Moussa Dembele, Leigh Griffiths and Edouard all have very different attributes but all deserve to be applauded for what they bring to the team.

In my day we had myself, Henrik Larsson and Chris Sutton. What was notable about Chris was his brain in terms of being able to play so many different positions and play them well. What you also had to applaud him for wasn’t just his ability to drop back to centre-half or to go into a midfield position but his attitude was spot on.

Not once did he ever grumble about that. That is pretty extraordinary. He had enough respect for the team and for the manager that he got on with it and what that meant was that Martin O’Neill had a system whereby he could find a way to accommodate three strikers who, just like the three who look like they will be starting next season at Celtic, all offered very different options.

But the difference is that Celtic play with a system now that supports one lone striker and there aren’t any out of the three who can drop back or play wide. We played with two forwards so at least there was scope to get us all into the team.

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Those options aren’t there at the minute. I wouldn’t tell Brendan how to set up his team because I think he has done a pretty good job of doing that himself and he likes his midfielders and wide men to get into forward positions; he plays an attacking system but with just the one up top.

It means that there will be a real fight to see who gets the starting jersey. And right now that shirt belongs to Moussa Dembele.

There are none of us here who are privy to whether or not he will still be at Celtic come the end of August. If the club receive a £25m offer for a player they paid £500k for then it is, frankly, impossible to turn down.

Right now the French striker is actively for sale and I wouldn’t be surprised in the slightest if there was a major bid that came in for him this summer because he is an outstanding striker who has the potential to play at the very top level.

That isn’t me chasing him out the door but just being realistic.

As we speak he is a Celtic player and Brendan will want him there for as long as possible because he definitely adds quality to the team.

But if I were in Leigh’s shoes this summer then I would be fighting tooth and nail to be going back to Lennoxtown for the start of pre-season training in the best possible shape that I could.

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I think it will be vital for him that he gets in right away and makes an impression. I know that he will be desperate to get the goals to take him over the 100-goal mark but it will be important for him this season to go and try to hit the ground running.

Having missed out on so much of last season through illness and injury it is imperative that he gets his head down and gets into his stride pretty quickly. If Celtic are prepared to break the transfer record to go and bring in another exiting young striker then you can be sure that they are going to want to play him.

If I were in Leigh’s position, I’d be going back to pre-season ready to knuckle down and remind everyone if what I had in terms of goals and ability in the box.

There was a clamour when there were only two strikers at the club to get a third in so I think you have to say it’s really good business by Celtic.

We saw last year how they were affected by injuries, particularly to the strikers, and you do need to have options if you want to go and make a stake for another clean sweep while also getting on in the Champions League.

Those qualifiers will come round pretty quickly so having three forwards whom he knows what he gets from each of them will be important as Brendan looks to get Celtic back into the group stages of the elite Champions League group stages.