Celtic have a 'very, very good chance' of keeping Edouard, says Brendan Rodgers

The 20-year-old Frenchman, on loan this term from PSG, netted the opening two goals against Rangers in the biggest win in the fixture since Celtic’s 7-1 win over Rangers in the League Cup final in 1957.

It is believed that it would take a club record fee to sign the player on a long-term contract deal but Rodgers remains confident that it can be done this summer.

Read more: Celtic march on, Rangers walk alone as Brendan Rodgers' men sweep to the title​

“A very, very good chance, hopefully,” he said. “He wants to be here. It will be a case of hopefully getting an agreement with Paris Saint-Germain. We will finish the season and then see where we are with that.

“He’s a brilliant player. I think some were questioning his ability when he first came but this is a player who was brought in for a reason.

“He is 20, he has everything - and I mean everything. Pace, power, you see his strength and his ability with the ball at his feet.

“He’s got a natural brain for football. He comes into the space, he can play off the sides. He has become really physical this season as it’s gone on. He has adapted into how we play with the physicality of the game.

“His two goals and his link-up play today was absolutely sensational for a young guy in that type of environment.

Read more: Celtic duo Scott Brown and Kieran Tierney pick up PFA Scotland Player and Young Player of the Year awards​

“I’ve got Leigh Griffiths there as well but I felt that with Rangers probably wanting to come and press us,that if we wanted to go over the top of the press, then Odsonne has the physical strength to hold it and break the line. He is super quick. That worked well for us.

“There were a lot of good contributions all round but I was delighted for him to come into a game of that magnitude and play that well.”

There was a feeling at one stage that Celtic could have gone for the seven goals to eclipse the long standing 7-1 League Cup final scoreline – but Rodgers maintained that he was content to take the five.

“We should have had seven but, like I say, we’ll take five,” he said. “The performance was outstanding, if you think about what the players put into the game. This title this year is definitely better than last, even though we went unbeaten last year. I think probably when I came in last year there was expectation of course.”

Read more: The seven games which led Celtic to their seventh title in a row​

Rodgers also revealed after the game that there were a number of players who had struggled with a virus in the build-up to the meeting between the teams. The Celtic manager hailed the character of his players and their desire to go the extra mile.

“Scott Brown has been suffering, Mikael Lustig has been taking tablets for a broken toe,” he said. “That’s the drive they have. That’s always important, to have players who can find a way.

“You see a lot of modern day footballers, if they hurt their fingernails they pull out. So it’s about having the right types, the right profile of player, guys who give their best and give everything. We have that here.”

As Celtic took their seventh successive title with some style, Rodgers was insistent that he wants to maintain the same standard not just between now and the end of the season but throughout his tenure at the club.

Read more: Celtic march on, Rangers walk alone as Brendan Rodgers' men sweep to the title​

“It’s a club I know very, very well and there won’t be too many atmosphere’s like this around the world, this is a wonderful football club,” said Rodgers. “Celtic Rangers games are renowned throughout the world for a reason, for reasons like today. It was a real special atmosphere and great that we can make the supporters happy.

“That was key. It’s very important that if you want sustain it you have to have that hunger and intensity.

“Like I say I think last weekend probably a little bit of the 4-0 semi-final crept into our game, we weren’t quite on it but we talked about that, reflected on it and pointed it out in our training during the week that we can’t play like that, that’s not what we’re about.

“We’re about running hard, fast and aggressive and when we do that we give ourselves a chance to create lots of opportunities. Like today we scored five and it was probably going on seven or eight, their keeper made some great saves.

“It’s a great tribute to the work of the players, the scrutiny they are under to perform like that.”