Reported Aston Villa transfer target, Odsonne Edouard, has admitted that he is set on moving to a "higher league", but that his current focus remains on finishing the season at Celtic.

What's the word?

The Athletic journalist David Ornstein revealed that Dean Smith's side expressed an interest in the France U21 international, but a deal of course failed to materialise before the end of the deadline.

Now, Edouard himself has opened the door to a potential exit from Celtic in the near future. Speaking to French outlet Telefoot (and quoted by The Daily Record), the striker said: "I've been here for three years, and for sure when the time comes I'll think about leaving, look for a higher league. Right now I'm focused on this season and when the right time comes I'll make the decision to go."

Lange must act

Whilst Villa may have ended up signing a striker in Brentford ace Ollie Watkins, if an opportunity presents itself like it could with the £13.5m-rated Edouard, then the Premier League side simply have to take advantage of it.

The Celtic ace has an incredible goal-scoring record in his time in the Scottish Premiership, bagging 66 goals in 137 games across all competitions, including providing a further 32 assists too.

And his ability to be a clinical finisher, as well as a reliable creator of goals, is what gives him the edge over Watkins. A couple of years younger than the Villa man at just 22, Edouard has averaged an impressive 3.7 shots and 1.7 dribbles per game this season in the league, registering an average match rating of 7.35.

Watkins, on the other hand, albeit in the more competitive Premier League, has averaged 2.6 shots and 0.8 dribbles per match. With Edouard's experience of also playing in European competition with Celtic, the ace described as "talismanic" by his boss, Neil Lennon, could add to Villa's cutting edge.