First of all it should be noted no-one is counting any chickens but Celtic’s deal to sign Polish forward Patryk Klimala from Jagiellonia Białystok looks like it’s heading to a satisfactory conclusion. The David Turnbull factor of course means restraint is required before we get too carried away. Once bitten twice shy and all that.
If this deal gets past the medical then you’d assume personal terms have been agreed, and as such Paddy K looks like being a £3.5million back up for French Eddy and he looks a player. Have a look for yourselves.
Patryk Klimala.
Looks rapid. pic.twitter.com/Xkd0k4cmFO
— Li'l Ze (@LilZe85) January 12, 2020
The added advantage is he appears to be able to play wide right and wide left as well as through the middle. It certainly looks like the reasoning behind the exits of both Scotty Sinclair and Lewis Morgan is becoming apparent.
The main advantage is clear. No matter how good Odsonne Edouard is, when our main striker isn’t available we’ve struggled for goals. Lewis Morgan for whatever reason hasn’t made the grade at Celtic, Vakoun Bayo has been unfortunate with injury and Leigh Griffiths has simply got to the stage where he cannot be relied upon to make the team.
Ruthless as this might sounds with regards these players we can’t hang around. 9 in a row has to be achieved and there is no room for passengers. Sadly for Lewis Morgan that inability we have to offer the patience required, means the experiment of young Lewis as a striker couldn’t progress past the winter break.
Up to now the two main strikers linked with Celtic have been Andraz Sporar from Slovan Bratislava and Le Havre’s Tino Kadewere from Ligue2 in France. Both players were of interest, both players clearly went beyond what Celtic were willing to pay. Patryk Klimala fits our budget and he looks a talented player.
Sporar would have been a gamble and as the bidding went north of £5million I’d say it had exceeded the cost where which we’d be willing to speculate.
The 25 year old has been banging in the goals in the Slovenian league following a spell with FC Basel in Switzerland. He’s been capped 19 times by his country but has only found the back of the net twice in those appearances.
His goalscoring rate has been impressive this year with 20 goals in 26 appearances. 12 of those have come domestically in the Fortuna Liga but he has also netted 5 goals in 6 games at Europa League level he also found the net in both Europa qualifying and in Champions league qualification.
Initially Neil Lennon poured cold water on the links but with Slovan Chairman Ivan Kmotrick coming out and saying there had been concrete interest from Celtic, Lennon moved the goalposts a little and admitted Sporar was a player Celtic were watching, though Lenny had denied it had gone as far as a bid for the player.
It appears the selling club were using Celtic though to drum up further interest in the player and truth be told I wasn’t particularly taken by his stats at any rate.
The lad has already been abroad to play for Basel and was sent out on loan during that time to Armenia Bielefeld before joining Slovan Bratislava. His international goalscoring rate is nothing to write home about and his last sojourn abroad saw him return with his tail between his legs.
Sporar’s time on loan in Bundesliga 2 saw him score only two in nine games and if the fee reportedly asked for is north of £5million, I’d say his goalscoring return outside his domestic league didn’t warrant any further attention and we did the right thing to leave the risk to other suitors.
Le Havre’s Tino Kadewere seemed the only other striker we’d been linked with that would or at least could have fitted the bill. Considering his goal scoring record in Ligue 2 in France reads 18 goals in 20 games it’s no wonder the 24 year old Zimbabwe international was attracting our interest, he looked a far more promising striker than some of the other we’ve been linked with.
Our interest appeared to have attracted the interest of Lyon who now look like they intend to buy with a likely loan back option to Le Havre until the end of the season. That was good work from Le Havre, all’s fair in love and war and they’ll now get a deal for nigh on £10million. Far too rich for us for a back-up striker to Odsonne Edouard in any case. Perhaps that would have been more viable in the summer. So be it.
So it now looks like we’ve found our player within our budget, Klimala has scored seven goals in 17 appearances in the Polish league. He’s a Polish under 21 player and from what he says he’s confident and backs himself.
“First of all, I don’t want to be the fourth choice, only the first, I want to develop, so I will also choose a league that will give me that. If someone wants me and it is a good option, I will go and fight for my own. I don’t know what will result, but the talks will definitely start in January”.
Well those talks have progressed, a medical is booked and all being well young Patryk Klimala will sign on at Celtic on Monday. He’ll then get to back up those words with actions. Something tells me he’ll do just that.
As Paddy Bhoy signs up, it’s now fight or flight for Griffiths and Bayo. How they react will be telling.
Niall J
SUPPORT CELTIC, SUPPORT CELTIC POOLS
Help raise money for Celtic Youth Development by joining the £1 weekly lottery and you could win up to £25,000 – just click on the photograph below to join.
ALSO ON THE CELTIC STAR
Celtic’s New Wave – Patryk Klimala’s on his way and Lenny suggests Daniel Arzani and Marian Shved will feature…see HERE.
This is a great read, highly recommended…
The Sandman Zone – also starring Samuel L. Jackson as Olivier Ntcham…see HERE.
Paddy Bhoy – Celtic activate €4million release clause in Klimala’s contract, medical on Monday…see HERE.
