Over the past few days, it has become pretty clear that Carl Starfelt will be on his way out of Celtic this summer. The Swede has been a key part of this team since he arrived in 2021 and was a major part of their successes under the management of Ange Postecoglou, winning five out of six domestic trophies.
It looks like Celtic and Starfelt are set to go their separate ways this summer. That will come as a blow for the Hoops without a shadow of a doubt.
They are losing another regular starter, having seen Jota depart earlier in the summer. The good news is, it looks like the club have plans to bring in a replacement for Starfelt rather than sticking to the options that they already have.
As reported by The Scotsman, Brendan Rodgers said about the situation:
"“We would need to get another centre half.“The whole idea was to have four that could be competitive, and if Carl was to go, we would bring in another one.”"
Rodgers confirms Celtic plan to replace Starfelt
If rumours are to be believed then Spain is looking like Starfelt’s most likely destination at this point in time. Celta Vigo appear to be the favourites to sign the Swedish centre-back this summer.
As for Celtic, they will need to replace Starfelt with an established and experienced centre-back rather than bringing in another highly-rated youngster. The Hoops have already signed Maik Nawrocki in this window and the Polish youth international started the game against Ross County on Flag Day.
The club also have Liam Scales, Stephen Welsh and Yuki Kobayashi. Tomoki Iwata is capable of playing as a centre-back as well. There are big question marks though, over whether any of them is good enough to start for Celtic.
If or when Starfelt leaves, Celtic will need to bring in a defender capable of starting from the get-go. Anything less than that would have to be viewed as a disappointment in terms of recruitment.