Elfsborg Director Stefan Andreasson has provided an update on Celtic’s interest in his central defender Gustaf Lagerbielke and it certainly does suggest that a deal could be done for the player, who would replace the Celta Vigo bound Carl Starfelt in Brendan Rodgers’ Celtic squad for the new season.
But reports that Celtic have tabled a £3m bid for Lagerbielke appear to be premature with Andreasson confirming that there has been dialogue over the player’s future with Celtic but emphasising that the two clubs are not yet at the negotiation stage.
“We have had a dialogue in this case. There is an interest, yes. But we are not in a negotiation,” the Elfsborg Director told Swedish outlet Fotbollkanalen. “Then the club must move from interest to acting powerfully concretely. We are not there right now.
“The trade-off is, as always, in the summer window. We have managed to have healthy conversations with our players. The most important thing is the club and the situation we are in. We are always positive that players can go for the right price.
“Many players want to leave Sweden. So we have dialogues when there is a good time for it. Sometimes, when we don’t think the bid is good enough, we might say no, and then it might take a while, and then something better might come along, and then players might still be happy.
“We know roughly what it would mean for a transfer for some players. We have a dialogue with the players and their representatives. We have that with multiple players now. Partly with Gustaf, partly with several others.
“These are pleasant problems,” Andreasson noted.
Celtic manager Brendan Rodgers revealed at the weekend that Carl Starfelt wants to leave the club and his agent has been assisting the club in sourcing a replacement to allow the deal with Celta Vigo to proceed. That was expected to happen in a day or two from the weekend but has now dragged into midweek, although the story has certainly developed with the now confirmed news of Celtic interest in Gustaf Lagerbielke.
Hopefully both deals can go through and if so it will be one of those rare situations where everyone involved will be happy, especially the loved up couple, and the best of luck to them too!
