Celtic are reported to have bid £3m for Gustaf Lagerbielke of Elfsborg.
With Carl Starfelt on his way to joining Celta Viga Brendan Rodgers is on the look out for a central defender to compete with Cameron Carter-Vickers and Maik Nawrocki.
At the age of 23 Lagerbielke is a year older than Nawrocki with the same first team pedigree that attracted the hoops to the Legia Warsaw defender.
With just over three weeks to go in the transfer window Rodgers will be keen to get deals over the line, according to the report from Expressen, Starfelt’s agent Blash Hosseini is also involved in negotiations to bring his replacement to Celtic Park.
IF Elfsborg has been this year’s Allsvenskan success team. The Borås club tops the Allsvenskan table and one of the players who stood out the most is centre-back Gustaf Lagerbielke, 23.
The defender is noted for two goals in 15 games and the success has not gone unnoticed among European clubs. Now you risk losing Lagerbielke, who has been one of the team’s most important pieces this season.
Expressen can reveal that IF Elfsborg has received a record bid for Gustaf Lagerbielke from the Scottish big club Celtic, who are working on signing the centre-back.
Lagerbielke is intended to replace Carl Starfelt who is details from being sold to Celta Vigo in La Liga, something that Expressen revealed on Saturday .
According to information to Expressen, Celtic’s bid is around SEK 40 million and Elfsborg is currently evaluating the bid and it remains to be seen if there will be a sale of the defender.
When Elfsborg defeated Sirius on Sunday, Starfelt’s agent Blash Hosseini appeared at Borås’ arena. Several sources state that the reason for the visit was to try to stitch together the Lagerbielke deal to Celtic.
For the bulk of Ange Postecoglou’s time in charge Starfelt and Cameron Carter-Vickers were the first pick central defenders with the former hoops boss reluctant to look beyond that duo.
Mortitz Jenz was fairly regular in the first half of last season but after the World Cup break Starfelt and Carter-Vickers were reunited with the loan spell for Jenz cut short.
Lagerbielke is inder contract with Elfsborg until December 2025 which gives them an element of control but it would be difficult to deny a 23-year-old the opportunity to play Champions League football at a club where Henrik Larsson, Johan Mjallby and Mikael Lustig all became firm favourites.
With Elfsborg in mid-season the young defender should be fit enough to move straight into the Celtic side giving Rodgers some options in central defence where Nawriocki is just one match into his career in Scotland.
Lagerbielke made his full international debut in January, he didn’t pick up any u-21 caps but did play twice for the Swedish u-20 side,
CLICK HERE for his Transfermarkt profile.
