Brazilian claims Celtic came back despite failed move

A Brazilian defender claims that Celtic circled back to try and sign him after he and his club had a legal dispute this past winter.

Celtic were connected to numerous players from various clubs during this past winter transfer window that ended in January. However, Celtic was only able to secure two bigger name players in the likes of Patryk Klimala and Ismaila Soro. However, it was not for a lack of trying.

Fabricio Bruno, a Brazilian central-defender was on the top of the list for the Hoops back in January. During that period, the player and his club at the time, Cruzeiro were in a bit of a disagreement. The club did not want to work a transfer with Celtic, and as such, Bruno took the club to court.

According to Fabricio Bruno, the Hoops circled back to him in order to sign him even with the pending legal case. Unfortunately for both parties, the timeframe for the legal resolution of February 8th was not able to work for the Hoops.

Just recently, Fabricio Bruno spoke about the situation in some detail:

"“It all started when Celtic came to talk to me and I went to Cruzeiro together with my representative.“But Cruzeiro refused to negotiate with them. It was a difficult situation and I had to look at the personal side of it. Some fans called me ungrateful and mercenary, but it was the other way around.“I tried to get the club some money with this transfer. I tried to tell to them to negotiate with Celtic, but they would not. I had no choice, but to take Cruzeiro to court.“Celtic came back for me, but they had to pull out because I wouldn’t get a decision from the court until February 6 and that was too late for them. It was very unfortunate for them.“I won the case, but I just wanted to get on with my life and my career.”"

While Kristoffer Ajer and Christopher Jullien held down the back line fairly competently until the suspension of the league, a player of Bruno’s calibre would have gone a long way in helping shore up the future of the position.

With the possibility of Kristoffer Ajer’s exit this next transfer window, an additional central-defender would have been helpful. Now, the club will have to look elsewhere while they undertake their overhaul of the club this summer. The current situation has certainly not made it any easier.