If we’re looking to bring Odsonne Edouard back to Celtic, then our scouting department really isn’t fit for purpose…

So, there are two stories in the Record today touting Odsonne Edouard for a ‘sensational’ return to Celtic.

Personally, I believe all of it is clutching at straws.

Pure speculation.

Because if we were considering moving for a player like Edouard, what the hell do we have a scouting network for?

Considering a move for someone like Edouard isn’t scouting, its going down the same old tried and tested route Celtic seems to go down all the time.

For both managers and players.

If they’ve been a success at the club before, they can be a success again.

All you have to think of in recent memory are names like Neil Lennon, Brendan Rodgers, Felipe Jota, and Kieran Tierney.

Go a bit further back and you have the likes of Emilio Izaguirre, slightly back again and you have Shaun Maloney.

This is what Celtic does.

Hell, I wouldn’t be surprised if Rodgers saw out his contract this season and then Ange Postecoglou was waiting in the wings to return when the Irishman departs.

It wouldn’t even surprise me if Sean Maloney was considered for the job.

So, when I see the likes of this crap in the media today talking about a return for Odsonne Edouard, I think to myself, what next?

Which former player will they link to the club next?

A return for Matt O’Riley?

Because he’s not happy at Brighton?

Or a return for Giorgos Giakoumakis because he can’t settle at Cruz Azul?

Is this what we’re reduced to?

Is it because there are no real plausible stories out there to report that the media are leaning towards stories like this?

Another day in this transfer window has gone by without adding another player to our squad.

That’s another day closer to our crucial Champions League qualifier next month.

The Celtic board didn’t feel under pressure last summer to land players until late in the window because they didn’t have to contend with a CL qualifier.

That is not the case this summer.

However, it seems like they don’t feel under pressure this time around either.

Because if they did, we wouldn’t have the gaping holes we have in our squad currently.

We wouldn’t be weaker than we were when we lost the Scottish Cup final to Aberdeen.

Yes, there are a raft of names out there being mentioned.

We discussed Michel-Ange Balikwisha on last night’s podcast.

Its clear now we’re probably going to have pay over the odds to land him now.

Especially since Marc Overmars expects it now that we’ve landed big money from the sale of Nicolas Kuhn.

The other two names being mentioned are Flavio Nazinho, who is a young Portuguese left back, and Shin Yamada, the Japanese striker.

Nazinho is only considered to be a short-term replacement, which would indicate the club is looking to bring him in on loan.

Possibly on with a loan to buy option, depending on how he performs.

It doesn’t exactly smack of a move for the long-term, does it?

Shin Yamado, on the other hand, is pretty much an unknown quantity.

Similar to the kind of unknown quantity Kyogo Furuhashi was when he came to Celtic 4 years ago.

Whether he would be capable of hitting the heights Furuhashi did can only be deduced if he signs the on the dotted line.

Considering his asking price is only £1.5 million, then you have to wonder what’s taking this one so long?

Are the board trying to haggle Kawasaki Frontale down to £1.3 million?

That would not shock me in the slightest.

One thing we can all agree on is that not a single big name signing has been mentioned in this window.

And Odsonne Edouard is not a big name.

Rather, he is just another in a long list of ex-Celts linked with the club in recent times.

Which is really getting tiring.

Its a big world out there.

With many footballing nations.

Surely our scouts can do better than ex-Celtic players, projects south of the border, and consistently tapping into the Japanese market?

A skill they learned from Ange Postecoglou.

Don’t get me wrong, it has worked for us, but as I’ve said, its a big world out there.

Needless to say, despite the fact other sites have jumped on the Edouard story, I firmly believe it won’t happen.

Its a non-runner.

Created by the media, who just want to throw a story out there because this has happened at Celtic so many times before.

People have short memories.

Odsonne Edouard downed tools in his final full season at the club.

He looked totally disinterested.

In the unlikely event he came back to Celtic, would he suddenly turn into a martyr for the cause again?

I sincerely doubt it.

Just as I doubt we’ll ever see him in a Celtic shirt again.

Not that that will deter the media from creating fantastical stories to that effect.

I certainly won’t be falling for them.

You shouldn’t either.