Celtic captain Scott Brown said he was delighted to see the Parkhead club make a statement of intent by splashing the cash to sign Odsonne Edouard.

The Scottish champions broke their transfer record on Friday when they pushed through a move to sign Edouard, who spent last season on loan in Glasgow from PSG, on a permanent basis.

For Brown, the outlay to secure the 20-year-old French attacker shows Celtic's ambition going forward.

He said: "He's a great lad in the dressing room and he's shown his quality on the park.

"In training we see it every day, but the fans don't get to see that.

"It's great that he has came, it's great he wants to be here, I'm delighted.

"It shows our intent is to get into the Champions League, to win the league and be more consistent.

"He'll develop a lot under the great coaching team that's here, he's young, a great prospect.

"We need that pace and youth, especially when we've got me in the team."

Celtic have returned early for pre-season training as they prepare for Champions League qualifiers next month.

Under a new format, the Hoops will have to progress through four qualification rounds to reach the lucrative group stage.

With an additional hurdle to overcome, Brown acknowledged his side face a tougher test this time around than in previous campaigns but said he and his teammates are fully focused on booking their spot amongst Europe's big hitters.

He added: "We've done well the last two years to get into it, our aim at the moment is just to make sure we win every game through the qualifiers.

"They are making it harder every year for us, but we have to keep doing it and make sure we get in."

Celtic will begin their title defence against newly promoted Livingston when Premiership action gets back underway.

Brown is expecting another testing campaign for Brendan Rodgers' men as their nearest challengers continue to improve.

He continued: "Aberdeen were fantastic last year, Motherwell played us in two cup finals, Rangers kicked on last season and Hibs have players like John McGinn who has great quality, so it's going to be hard."