Odsonne Edouard is available for the first time and is expected to come into the Leicester City squad at the King Power Stadium as deputy for star man Jamie Vardy
Odsonne Edouard is raring to go with the delay over his Leicester City debut helping the striker to get up to speed ahead of this Saturday’s big clash with Everton (3pm kick-off).
Arriving on loan from Crystal Palace on deadline day, the lateness of his signing meant he was unable to play against Aston Villa. The international break followed, with the 26-year-old then ineligible to face his parent club last weekend.
No further injuries have been suffered by the City squad ahead of their meeting with fellow winless side Everton, meaning just Patson Daka and Jakub Stolarczyk will be sidelined. But Edouard’s availability will likely signal a change to the squad with the Frenchman ready to go.
He’s had a few weeks of solid training time with his new team-mates, and so is expected to be on the bench and could potentially come in when Jamie Vardy is tiring. Against a side likely to be one of their relegation rivals, Saturday’s fixture is probably the biggest of the season so far. But Edouard has plenty of experience in high-pressure matches because of his time with Celtic, manager Steve Cooper has said.
“It’s felt like he’s been with us for a while now,” the manager said at his press conference on Thursday afternoon. “It’s allowed him to develop his relationships with his team-mates and the staff and understand how we want the team to play and his role within it.
“He adds good experience to the attacking part of the pitch. He’s played mainly as a number nine but he can also play in some slightly different positions at the top of the pitch. I’ve spoken often of wanting a variety of options and different profiles that we can hopefully select wisely for each and every game. Odsonne is a good example of that. We’re enjoying working with him and it’ll be great to get him involved sooner rather than later.
Jamie has been well-known for playing on the limit, his runs in behind, and really coming alive in the box, and that’s what’s given him the career we’ve seen over many years now. Odsonne can definitely offer that as well.
You need more than one option in every position. He has Premier League experience, he has big-game experience as well due to his time at Celtic and the big stage there.
The more attacking options you can have going into a game, and during a game for changes, the better. That’s the modern game, it’s not just about the starting team, it’s not just about having one player for one position. It’s about having a real variety and that’s what he adds to us.
“You saw in pre-season with Vards and Pato injured that we were a little undermanned there. We needed to bring some bodies in. But to bring in the quality we have, it bodes well.”
With Edouard unlikely to be a threat to Vardy’s starting spot for now, perhaps the most interesting selection dilemma is in attacking midfield. Wilfred Ndidi did a great job there at Palace, but Facundo Buonanotte and Bilal El Khannouss should now be up to speed, with both more naturally creative.