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Daily Record
Daily Record
Sport
Liam Bryce

Odsonne Edouard 'the perfect fit' for Leeds United as Celtic star gets Marcelo Bielsa recommendation

Paul Robinson has urged Leeds United to move for Odsonne Edouard this summer.

The former Elland Road keeper believes the Celtic striker would be "the perfect fit" to work under boss Marcelo Bielsa.

Leeds are celebrating a return to the Premier League following a 16-year absence but Robinson reckons they must start preparing for top-flight life now.

The ex-England international shot-stopper insists Bielsa's current first-choice frontman Patrick Bamford won't cut it at the highest level.

But he's convinced Edouard could.

“I really like the boy Edouard at Celtic, I think he’d be an absolutely perfect fit for the way Bielsa plays,” Robinson told  bookmakers.co.uk .

“Or if Fulham don’t go up someone like Mitrović, someone of that ilk who is used to playing up top on their own who works hard off the ball but can also score goals.

“The chances will come. When you look back over the course of the last two seasons, Leeds have created so many chances but have dropped a lot points because they haven’t always been able to convert the chances into goals.

“If they had had someone who could take the chances they would have been promoted last season.”

(Getty Images)

Robinson fears Bamford, who scored 16 times on Leeds' march to the Championship title, is not clinical enough.

He added: "His conversion rate is not good enough.

“The chances that he’s missed this season – emphasised by the opportunities he squandered at Swansea and Barnsley recently – tells me he’s just not clinical enough, so it’s an area they’re going to have to strengthen in.

“Bielsa really likes him though and always plays him when he’s fit because of his work-rate and everything else he does off the ball for the team. That’s all well and good but his conversion rate just isn’t good enough.

“For a team to be promoted as champions with a top goalscorer with 16 goals is unusual. Most top six teams in the Championship have a 20+ goals a season striker.

"Bamford isn’t prolific enough. The way Leeds play, with a single central striker, it’s an area they’re going to have to strengthen, no doubt.”

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