Celtic’s pre-season has gotten off to a good start as they have won both of their first two games with Ange Postecoglou as the club’s manager. But things do not seem to be going as smoothly when it comes to the summer transfer window.
The club have been expected to bring in a number of new signings over the course of the summer in order to rebuild the squad after going without a trophy in the previous campaign and finishing 25 points behind the Rangers in the Premiership table.
Till now, they have managed to sign Osaze Urhoghide from Sheffield Wednesday. And although they have been linked with a number of other exciting players, the Hoops have not managed to get any of those deals over the line yet.
Carl Starfelt is one such player. As posted by Fabrizio Romano on Facebook, the Hoops have offered €5 million for the centre-back but talks are not progressing at the moment as the club have stepped down, with Kristoffer Ajer’s future also playing a part:
"Celtic have offered €5m to Rubin Kazan to sign Carl Starfelt as new centre back. But at the moment talks are not progressing as Celtic have stepped down – waiting for next steps also on Ajer future."
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Celtic have been handed another transfer blow
It does appear that Starfelt could be a good fit in Postecoglou’s style of football. He is a ball-playing centre-back with brilliant passing and is good in defensive duels as well. But for the time being, it looks like talks have stalled for the defender.
On the other hand, Kristoffer Ajer was expected to depart the club this summer with just a year left on his current deal. But the Hoops are believed to have turned down multiple transfer bids for him till now and at the moment, it looks possible that he could end up staying at Parkhead for another season.
If that turns out to be case, it would be surprising to see the club make a big move for a centre-back this summer. Now, it remains to be seen how things unfold over the coming months.