Sky Sports are reporting that Celtic are showing interest in signing Gustaf Lagerbielke of Elfsborg and Volendam’s Xavier Mbuyamba.
Whether they would sign both players isn’t clear but with Carl Starfelt expected to sign for Celta Vigo it is clear that at least one more defender has to be signed.
At the weekend when Brendan Rodgers announced the expected transfer of Starfelt he made it known that a replacement was required.
Last night Swedish publisher Expressen broke the news of interest in Lagerbielke, claiming that talks were at an advanced stage with an offer of £3m put to the Swedish club.
Tellingly the report mentioned that Blash Hosseini, Starfelt’s agent was involved in the negotiations which would complete a circle and ease the way for Starfelt to complete his move to La Liga.
Celtic have made enquiries for two centre-backs as they look to replace Carl Starfelt. 🍀
Enquiries have been made for Elfsborg’s Gustaf Lagerbielke and Volendam’s Xavier Mbuyamba. pic.twitter.com/7LKl0G1Lvs
— Sky Sports News (@SkySportsNews) August 8, 2023
Mbuyamba has been mentioned on and off in connection with Celtic and was expected to join Sampdoria last month.
Many clubs in Italy are being watched closely due to Financial Sustainability meaning that they have to squeeze full value out of every deal that they are involved in.
In contrast Celtic appear to comfortably off with a good sized transfer surplus following the deals to sell Josip Juranovic, Giorgos Giakoumakis and Jota.
Recruiting players that are superior to the current squad while staying within a realistic salary range is proving to be the difficult part with the SPFL far from the most attractive of leagues for players to move to.
At the age of 21 Mbuyamba has already had stints at Chelsea and Barcelona but found the first team football that he required back in the Netherlands with Volendam.
The moves for Juranovic and Starfelt demonstrate that playing for Celtic attracts interest from the major leagues, with Champions League football next month the hoops can put together a powerful package to attract new recruits with Brendan Rodgers a manager that is instantly recognisable.
With 23 days left in the transfer window the clock is starting to tick down with the final days of the window a notorious for dubious deals.
Against Ross County Rodgers opted to start with Cameron Carter-Vickers and Maik Nawrocki in central defence with that partnership likely to continue through a difficult run of fixtures covering Pittodrie, Rugby Park and Ibrox broken only by a home SPFL match against St Johnston.
The return from injury of Carter-Vickers has given the Irishman some breathing space as he formulates his defensive plans for the season ahead, in an ideal world Rodgers would have four options of that calibre.
Saturday’s matchday squad didn’t include Stephen Welsh or Liam Scales which would suggest that they will be playing elsewhere when the window closes with Rodgers unconvinced that they are ready for the challenges ahead.
Sunday’s match at Aberdeen will be an strong early test of where the squad is at with the handover from Ange Postecoglou to Rodgers, under Barry Robson the Dons stormed into the top six to take third place away from Hearts to guarantee European group stage football through the autumn.
Zalgiris Vilnius of Lithuania or Swedish side BK Hacken will face Aberdeen in the Europa League Play Off which is about as kind a draw as Robson could wish for.
After opening the SPFL campaign with a 0-0 draw at Livingston taking something from Celtic would be the ideal boost going into the Europa League Play-Off at Pittodrie on August 24.
