Celtic supporters woke up to the positive news that Swedish centre back Carl Starfelt is set to join the club for fee of €5m, with Rennes right back Brandon Soppy touted as the next target for Ange Postecoglou and his backroom team.
The news broke via respected football journalist Fabrizio Romano, who uploaded the following tweet:
Celtic have reached an agreement with Rubin Kazan to sign Carl Starfelt, done deal and here we go. €5m as final fee – negotiations completed. Next target: Brandon Soppy. ⚪️🟢 #Celtic
Official announcement soon for Starfelt, personal terms agreed as advanced one week ago. 👇🏻 https://t.co/2X9k2zqb48
— Fabrizio Romano (@FabrizioRomano) July 14, 2021
Carl Starfelt is 26 years old and is a towering defender at 6ft 1in. Although he is primarily a centre back, he is also comfortable on the right side of a back four and has played in both positions for Sweden at U20 level and as a full international (3 caps). Having began his career with IF Brommapojkarna in the third level of Swedish football, Starfelt signed for top tier club IFK Goteborg four years later, in January 2018. Arriving on a free transfer, Carl proved a fine acquisition and after amassing more than 70 appearances, he went on to Rubin Kazan for just under £1m in July 2019.
A strong presence in the Russian club’s defence, Starfelt possesses a great right foot and is comfortable playing out from the back. He appears to have found another level to his game since playing in the Premier Liga and was duly rewarded by firstly being handed his full Sweden debut in 2020, before being given a contract extension in February 2021, which tied him down until 2024.
Starfelt has made just under 50 appearances for Rubin Kazan and is a player who is very much on the up. The bulk of his experience is at domestic level, though he has played in four Europa League qualifiers. The challenge will be to step up and show himself capable in European competition, but his performances in Russia and ongoing rise suggests that he should adapt to Scottish football with few difficulties.
A welcome addition, a good age 26 and we seem to do alright with the Swedish players. Wonder if that will be big Kris on his way, better for all involved if he was.
If he doesn’t want to be here and we can get something like £15m for him then I’d rather sell him and that’d cover this transfer, plus another £10m to use on the other three or four options that we’re targetting