Celtic’s deal to sign Gustaf Lagerbielke isn’t quite as cut and dried as it appeared on Friday night.
Anel Advic of Expressen broke the news on Monday that Celtic were in advanced talks with Elfsborg over a £3m move for the defender.
On Friday night he followed that up by tweeting that terms had been agreed between the clubs with Lagerbielke travelling to Scotland next week to undergo a medical.
That time delay seemed a little odd, if terms were all agreed you’d expect the player to be on the next available flight to undergo a medical to get the deal over the line.
Elfsborg play Hammarby at lunchtime today, at 5.10pm on Saturday Boras Tidning reported that Lagerbielke is included in Elfsborg’s plans for the match.
Lagerbielke should travel to Glasgow next week to undergo a medical as per @AnelAvdic 🇸🇪🔜
Elfsborg play Hammarby tomorrow & their managed told @boras_tidning he intends to play Lagerbielke from the start. https://t.co/J45NeuSx8i
— Everything Celtic (@aboutceltic) August 12, 2023
Bodas Tidning reports:
Elfsborg’s club manager Stefan Andreasson confirms that there are ongoing negotiations for the defender with the Scottish big club Celtic.
Despite that, Gustaf Lagerbielke is in the squad against Hammarby and intends to play from the start.
If the deal is as advanced as was reported on Friday Elfsborg wouldn’t be risking a club record transfer fee by playing Lagerbielke today.
Equally the player might be reluctant about any risk to a transfer that could put at risk a five year contract with a significant pay rise and signing on fee.
Meanwhile with Carl Starfelt now at Celtic Vigo Brendan Rodgers goes to Aberdeen with Cameron Carter-Vickers and Maik Nawrocki as his only central defenders.
Stephen Welsh who last played a competitive match in October or Liam Scales who spent last season at Aberdeen are the back up options for the bench, neither was named as a substitute for last week’s win over Ross County.
Royal Antwerp have also been linked with an interest in Lagerbielke, with less than three weeks to go in the transfer window the timeline to get deals completed is starting to tighten.
No twist. It’s done, as reported yesterday. He will travel to Glasgow next week for medicals. 😉
— Anel Avdić (@AnelAvdic) August 12, 2023
