Celtic and Elfsborg have reached agreement over the £3m transfer of Gustaf Lagerbielke.
News broke on Monday night that the two clubs were in talks and although Brendan Rodgers refused to comment on the claim at his media conferences on Wednesday the same source has tonight revealed that the deal is set to go through.
With Carl Starfelt joining Celta Vigo on Thursday the bulk of that fee is on its way to Sweden as Lagerbielke becomes the second major addition to the Celtic defence following the arrival of Maik Nawrocki.
🚨💣 Elfsborg and Celtic have reached an agreement regarding the transfer of Gustaf Lagerbielke. ☘️🏴
Celtic will pay 40 million kr – new transfer record for Elfsborg. 🟡 Player will travel to Glasgow next week for medicals.
Massive job by Starfelts agent that helped Celtic…
— Anel Avdić (@AnelAvdic) August 11, 2023
If all goes to plan Lagerbielke will be in the Celtic squad for next Sunday’s Viaplay Cup tie at Kilmarnock although a debut is unlikely to be risked on that artificial pitch.
Since hitting top place in the Allsvenskan Elfsborg have found their players attracting interest with Celtic beating Royal Antwerp to the signing of Lagerbielke.
It seems like Starfelt’s departure has been on the way for a while with Nawrocki signed up in time to get one friendly appearance in before starting last week’s opener against Ross County.
As soon as the Celtic side was announced for the SPFL opener it seemed that there was movement over the Swedish defender with Rodgers admitting in his pre and post match interviews that it was likely to have been Starfelt’s last Celtic appearance.
Nawrocki got just over an hour alongside Cameron Carter-Vickers and will face a serious test on Sunday when the hoops visit Aberdeen for the first time since last December.
Last time around Jim Goodwin sent out a very defensive side to contain Celtic, under Barry Robson a more offensive approach is expected as the Dons look to build on last season’s third place finish in the SPFL Premiership.
