Odsonne Edouard – the answer to Leicester’s striker problem?

Having searched for a new striker the entire summer transfer window, Leicester City announced the one-year loan signing of Odsonne Edouard from Crystal Palace on deadline day.

The Foxes have long been interested in the French forward, dating back to his Celtic days three years ago. However Leicester opted to sign Patson Daka instead, with Edouard heading to Palace.

The 26-year-old is a Paris Saint-Germain academy graduate. Unable to get game time in the star-studded PSG line-up at the time, Edouard signed for Celtic as a teenager. The forward had a terrific spell in Scotland, recording 86 goal contributions in just 116 league appearances. Crystal Palace subsequently signed him for a reported fee of £14 million.

A goal within 28 seconds on his debut

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Edouard had a stellar start to his Premier League career. Coming on as a substitute against Tottenham Hotspur, the Frenchman scored within 28 seconds of coming onto the pitch, the fastest goal by a debutant in the league’s history. Edouard bagged his second goal and Palace’s third shortly after, making it a perfect debut.

However, things have fizzled out for Edouard. In the 95 league appearances for the South London side, he has bagged just 18 goals. Edouard’s link-up play has been decent, and his defensive contributions are superb for a forward. But the most important part of his game – scoring goals – has lacked quality. His non-penalty expected goals of 0.30 (p90) across the last year put him in the 22nd percentile compared to other forwards.  

Odsonne Edouard will have quality service at Leicester City

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Additionally, Edouard hasn’t been taking many shots. His 2.5 shots taken per game are lower than average, and less than 40% have been on target. With the likes of Bilal El Khannouss, Abdul Fatawu, and Facundo Bounanotte, Leicester have plenty of creative outlets in the team. Steve Cooper will be hoping they can provide quality service to the French forward, who will be determined to find his scoring boots after a challenging tenure in England so far.

With the ageing Jamie Vardy and an injured Daka the only options up front for Leicester, Edouard is bound to get regular game time this season. The 26-year-old could be signed on a permanent deal next summer if he impresses.

Leicester are facing Crystal Palace in a couple of days, and Edouard will miss out. He is ineligible to face his parent club. Foxes fans can look forward to a possible debut against Everton on August 21.