Celtic’s deal for Polish central defender, Maik Nawrocki is said to be at the final stage. The big centre-back will join the Hoops from Legia Warsaw in the Polish top flight after both teams thrashed out a deal for the highly-rated youngster.
Talks commenced over the weekend and although there have been several other interested parties, it looks like Brendan Rodgers has got his man. A fee of £4.3 million, with the potential to rise to £5.2 million with add-ons has been reported, whilst his former club would retain 15% of the entire transfer fee on his next move, should it transpire after his Parkhead spell.
One of the glaring deficiencies this pre-season has been the lack of strength in depth within the defensive backline, which stuck out like a sore thumb during our 6-4 defeat to Yokohama F. Marinos last week. However, it’s nothing that we didn’t already know about, with Cameron Carter-Vickers in recovery and Ally Johnston also out for a spell now too.
As has already been pointed out here on The Celtic Star, the bonus ball with Celtic’s signing of Nawrocki is his ability to play with two feet and versatility along the defence. It should be a welcome addition as he looks very much a player first-team ready but also with plenty of development left. Having played against him whilst manager of Leicester City, Brendan Rodgers will know his qualities and where he can improve his game too.
As we await the white smoke, transfer expert, Nicolo Schira, pointed out via social media platform Twitter that the deal was at the final stage now and shouldn’t be too long away.
Maik #Nawrocki to Celtic from #LegiaWarsaw is at the final stage. #transfers
— Nicolò Schira (@NicoSchira) July 24, 2023
Paul Gillespie
