Confirmed Transfer Odsonne Édouard on loan

[Brown Nose]

 

[M17TT C]

Copy and paste for us tight ****s?

 

[Micky]

Copy and paste for us tight ****s?

Just use the website 12ft ladder.

 

[City Fan]

Or refresh and stop the page loading, quickly

 

[M17TT C]

Just use the website 12ft ladder.

Cheers Micky luv!

 

[M17TT C]

Leicester City’s board and football departments remain under intense scrutiny from supporters, and the Odsonne Edouard shambles perfectly captures why.

Edouard’s deep-freeze treatment is the latest example of haphazard recruitment and poor planning that has cranked up frustration among a fan base demanding changes at the top.

Signed from Crystal Palace for the season on deadline day in the summer, Edouard has not featured for Leicester at any level since Nov 10.

He appears totally out in the cold under manager Ruud van Nistelrooy, yet his lack of game-time tells only half the story.

The amount of money committed on the French forward is almost impossible to comprehend when one considers Leicester are desperately battling to comply with profitability and sustainability rules [PSR].

When negotiating the deal with Palace, Leicester paid a £2.5 million loan fee and agreed to supplement a hefty portion of the forward’s wages, which are understood to be around a basic £90,000 a week inclusive of bonuses.

That huge financial outlay arguably places the Edouard debacle alongside the bungled Adrien Silva transfer of 2017 – when the club missed the registration deadline by 14 seconds.



Edouard had emerged as the top option on deadline day after Chelsea’s Armando Broja moved to Everton, and the final hours of the window always generate a degree of panic.

Yet surely a deal for such an experienced Premier League forward should have worked out better?

To provide some balance, recruitment is always a risk and there are never any guarantees that a signing will work.

Leicester, of course, do have many triumphs in recent times, including Jamie Vardy (£1 million from Fleetwood Town], Riyad Mahrez (£450,000 from Le Havre) and, more recently, Mads Hermansen (£5 million from Brondby).

The Edouard deal, however, has proven a big mistake and not only for Leicester but also Palace.

He is utterly blameless and it is difficult not to feel sympathy for the 27-year-old, who despite finding himself on the fringes has continued to remain professional in training sessions without any reward.



Ahead of Leicester’s home game against Brentford on Friday, Van Nistelrooy was asked for his opinion on the loanee.

“He’s competing for two places on the bench with Jamie and Patson [Daka], and so far I’ve been picking the first two,” he said.

“He’s the one who is competing. If I see in training sessions that he can do something better or that he will be of more value than one of the other two, then he will be in the squad and will make minutes.

“That’s the competition. The ones who don’t play, they need to fight for their spot. The ones who play protect their spot.

“The ones who are not in the squad, they fight to be in. That’s what drives us and makes our squad better.”

Edouard scored seven goals in the Premier League for Palace last season and signed a contract extension to 2027 before joining Leicester.

Despite that new deal, Palace are believed to have turned down a request from Leicester to rip up his loan prematurely in January.

With Edouard and Brighton’s Facundo Buonanotte taking up the two domestic loan spots, Van Nistelrooy’s efforts to strengthen his squad last month were hampered.

Since his appointment in November, Van Nistelrooy has selected Edouard for just one match-day squad, when Leicester travelled to Liverpool on Boxing Day.

Academy products Jeremy Monga, 15, and Jake Evans, 16, were selected in the match-day squad ahead of Edouard for this month’s FA Cup fifth-round tie at United.

Leicester are deep in relegation trouble and have scored only three goals in the league this year, but Edouard remains on the sidelines.

So what happens next? Edouard is still training with the first team and his conduct around the club’s base is believed to have been impeccable, despite some recent minor issues which meant he missed a few sessions.



The only option for a potential exit appears to be Major League Soccer in the United States.

The MLS transfer window is open until April 23, yet it is understood Edouard has already rejected a move to Atlanta United. The offer from Atlanta was worth a total £15 million.

Unless the situation changes, Edouard is facing a frustrating few months ahead.

Leicester, meanwhile, will continue to pay his wages regardless. It is a nightmarish situation and will be high on the list of this season’s errors if relegation is confirmed in May.

 

[Volpone]

It's unbefuckinglievable!

 

[Orifice]

The more that 'outsiders' (the media, generally) see and report the Leicester City situation, the better.

 

[jb5000]

The more that 'outsiders' (the media, generally) see and report the Leicester City situation, the better.

Sunlight is the best disinfectant, but we're going to need it in buckets

 

[bocadillo]

It's unbefuckinglievable!

No, it isn't. It's the Leicester way

 

[Blue Maniac]

No, it isn't. It's the Leicester way

Indeed, it is extremely ****ing believable.