French Football Weekly: when we see you on the pitch at 25 years old with the Crystal Palace jersey, we feel fulfilled, peaceful, a new Odsonne Edouard in a way.
Odsonne Edouard: there is no new Odsonne (laughs). It’s the same with more maturity I would say. Maturity comes with the path I have taken. I left France very early, I had to adapt quickly to this new environment. Obviously being abroad, it wasn’t easy. But little by little I managed to gain maturity and today we see a more mature Odsonne.
FM: In your daily life there are obviously things that have allowed you to reach a new level…
OE: Obviously it’s different. Already at the level of nutrition which is much more followed. Now I have a chef, a nutritionist, a personal fitness trainer. These are things that are necessary for the high level. Things that I’ve had to adapt to over time, things that I didn’t necessarily do before when I was young, but that I do now and that are essential to perform at the highest level. And we really see the difference whether it’s on a daily basis, during matches or during sessions, we feel that there is a real difference when we are well supervised.
FM: today, we see that you have everything you need to perform at Crystal Palace in a club that trusts you and within which you are performing (6 goals in 13 matches) this season, you who are arrived at the club in 2021 from Celtic Glasgow.
OE: yes, afterward it took me a while to adapt, because it was a new championship and a new life for me. It’s going faster, there are the best teams, the best players. Today, I have adapted well to the Premier League, to my team too because it is important and it is what helps me to perform every weekend.
“from the moment you sign your first professional contract, you start everything from scratch”
FM: You’ve had a winding path to say the least to get here even though everything started so well for you at PSG. This career plan was not the one outlined from the start, we imagine…
OE: This is a very difficult question because a career is made up of ups and downs, you never know what the future holds. Being trained in Paris, there are slightly higher expectations from certain people. Personally, I’m happy where I am today because I’m still in the Premier League. Afterwards it is clear that as a player, our objective is to always aspire to better and to play in the best European clubs. I’m not worried about that, it’s something that will come with time, with the work and the performances that I will provide.
FM: Let’s rewind your career a little. It’s 2015, you won the U17 Euro with 8 goals in 5 matches including a hat-trick in the final against Germany. A few months later, you signed professionally with PSG. Did you have the feeling, at that moment, that your career was launched?
OE: You should know that there is a world of difference between youth football and the professional world. That is to say, once you arrive in the professional world, everything you have done in the youth categories is forgotten. A new career is beginning. From the moment you turn 18 and sign your first professional contract, you start everything from scratch. You have to prove yourself and this barrier to overcome is quite complicated for all young people. It took me a little longer to cross it, but here I am today and that’s the most important thing.
FM: When you are young and when you are so familiar with the youth categories at club or national level, are you sufficiently prepared for this gap between the youth teams and the professional teams?
OE: frankly for my part, I was not prepared at all. The professional world is something that we discover, that we don’t necessarily know even if we hear about it from the oldest, the coaches, etc. But until you experience it, you can’t really know what it is and what to expect. From the first season when I was loaned to Toulouse, I was not prepared. As a result, I had some difficulty integrating into the professional world. But I think it also helped me, because it was the first time I left Paris, my hometown. I left the training center, I was a little far from my family. At first it was difficult, but it helped me a lot later. I think that without this experience, I don’t know if I could have aspired to a professional career.
FM: Was this choice to be loaned to Toulouse at 18 years old a PSG choice or yours?
OE: it was a personal choice. I had been through the youth team, I had scored a lot of goals, I had done a lot of things. I no longer wanted to play with the youngsters and I knew it would be difficult to get playing time with the pros. I really wanted to discover the professional world and TFC came knocking at the door and I took advantage of the opportunity.
“I have great memories of PSG”
FM: after TFC, you return to PSG but you don’t have more opportunities to play than the previous season, especially with the recruitments of Neymar and Kylian Mbappé.
OE: in Paris it was complicated because there were world-class players in my position. For me, the most important thing was to be on the pitch, to play and to have fun. Obviously, when I came back from Toulouse, I knew that I would have to find another way out, a stable environment to be able to play, have fun and impose myself.
FM: There are still some positives from your time among the pros at PSG, nothing from being able to rub shoulders with the stars of the time, we must necessarily learn from such players…
OE: of course, I have great memories of PSG. It’s my training club, it’s the club where I spent the most time, it’s where I discovered the professional world. I trained very regularly with them, I worked with great players who gave me a lot of advice, especially the attackers. At that time, there was Edinson Cavani who liked to share his experience and who liked to give a lot of advice to young people. Obviously, it helps in development. It’s something, to this day, that I haven’t forgotten. His advice still serves me…
FM: after PSG, head to Scotland where you arrived on loan before committing permanently in 2018. And there, we quickly found the real Odsonne, the one who scored goals like pearls in the youth team.
OE: Scotland compared to PSG was different. It’s a big club that needed a striker at that time. They gave me the chance to express myself, to have playing time. Obviously when you have playing time, you can show your qualities, show what you can do. And it worked out quite well for me since I managed to score goal after goal, to string together matches and to find a certain stability. This is what allowed me to express my talent and score goals.
“I always believed in myself”
FM: did all the goals scored with Celtic (84 goals in 173 matches including tax) reassure you of your qualities or did you doubt at one point, it would ultimately be human…
OE: I never doubted my qualities even in difficult times. I always believed in myself. I knew that, sooner or later, I would have my chance and that I would know how to seize it. That’s what I did. I leave no room for doubt. A football career goes quickly, we don’t have time to let doubt settle in. You must always stay in work, always stay in your goals and believe in yourself.
FM: in 2021 and after 4 seasons spent in Scotland, the Premier League is knocking on the door. The logical next step in your career?
OE: From the moment I signed for Scotland my end goal was the Premier League. I worked very hard while trying to perform as much as possible to one day reach my dream which was the Premier League. In 2021 I had the opportunity to join Crystal Palace and I jumped at the chance.
FM: here too, it took a few months to find your place in this championship and in this squad…
OE: yes we had to deal with a new team, a new championship and a new environment. When I arrived, I found competition in attack. At the beginning, it wasn’t easy, but I held on, I fought and I never gave up in training while waiting for my place to take my chance.
FM: and there, the least we can say is that this season the Odsonne machine is launched with 7 goals scored in 14 matches in all competitions, and a place in the top 10 of the best scorers in the Premier League.
OE: When you look back over my career, that’s a bit like how it worked. I always need this little time to adapt. After today, I think I have reached a form of maturity and it is this journey that has brought me to where I am now and that I am able to perform in the Premier League.
FM: trained at PSG, you performed at Celtic Glasgow then at Crystal Palace, what’s next?
OE: Already, my goal is to finish the season with as many goals as possible in the Premier League. I want to make a mark every weekend before why not hope for a new challenge by knocking on the doors of the biggest European clubs.
“The ideal goal is to stay in the Premier League”
FM: In this regard, have you set a specific objective for your future?
OE: At the moment, I’m in the Premier League, I like life in England, I like the championship. The ideal goal is to stay in the Premier League. But I am an open person. I’ve already moved around quite a bit since the start of my career. Afterwards, my goal is really to reach the biggest European clubs. And that means scoring a lot of goals and performing well every weekend. Achieving good performances with Crystal Palace in short.
FM: at the Téléfoot microphone a few weeks ago, you shared your dream of playing for the French team. But here too, competition is fierce…
OE: It’s clear, there are a lot of people. Afterwards it’s like everywhere, there is strong competition in the world of football. It’s a goal that remains in the back of my mind. It is by delivering great performances that the French Team will follow behind, but it is a very big objective for me. There are a lot of players from my generation, a lot of players I played with and worked with. Players with whom I still have contact, with whom we speak regularly. And when I see them there, wearing that jersey, it definitely makes me want to be there. Now it’s up to me to do my job to be able to achieve this.
FM: You who are trained at PSG, we cannot miss a question on the Warren Zaire-Emery phenomenon. Are you surprised by his explosion in Paris?
OE: surprised ? I would say no because he has demonstrated that he has the qualities and the character to establish himself in this team. To see a Parisian titi of this age establish himself and become an indisputable starter in all matches at the club, obviously it’s something beautiful for all the titis who have been there or who follow behind at the training center. I wish him only the best and to continue like this.
FM: Would it have been possible in your time to see such a player perform so quickly and become indispensable in Paris so quickly?
OE: I think it’s a question of timing. He came out at a time when there was room at his position, he had his chance and he knew how to seize it.
