Celtic's Northern Irish coach Brendan Rodgers gestures during a press conference at the Metropolitano stadium in Madrid, on November 6, 2023, on the eve of their UEFA Champions League Group E football match against Club Atletico de Madrid. (Photo by OSCAR DEL POZO / AFP) (Photo by OSCAR DEL POZO/AFP via Getty Images)
Gustaf Lagerbielke, a defender for Celtic, has acknowledged that he is eager to leave the Scottish Premiership winners, citing a dream transfer to Serie A as a possibility.
Brendan Rodgers’ somewhat dismal track record in the recruitment department during his two stints at Celtic has been widely discussed, and Gustaf Lagerbielke’s troubles in Glasgow won’t help much.
The Sweden international may already be done after just five months and nine appearances overall.
Lecce has a keen interest. And while Sky Sports suggest that Celtic will make a decision after learning the extent of Cameron Carter-Vickers’ injury, Lagerbielke seems to be taking matters into his own hands in an effort to ram through a dream transfer to the top division of Italy.
Celtic face Gustaf Lagerbielke decision
“Lecce has expressed a great deal of interest in me. “I want to go, have fun, and change the world,” Lagerbielke says to Tuttomercatoweb.
“Every football player’s dream is to play in the major leagues.” Since I was a young child, I had dreamed of playing in Serie A. Lecce has fielded numerous football players from Scandinavia.
“This would be beneficial for acclimating.”
August saw Celtic pay £3 million to sign Elfsborg’s Lagerbielke. However, the center-half, who was born in Stockholm, has hardly played in the Scottish Premiership and has just played 27 minutes of league football since a September 2-1 victory over Motherwell.
Only nine Hoops appearances
Of course, he will always remember his Champions League victory over Feyenoord in stoppage time, but even that turned out to be more of a false dawn than a “coming of age” event.
Yosuke Ideguchi has already been traded by Celtic this month, and Kwon Hyeok-kyu left for St. Mirren on loan. The Hoops are reportedly considering bids for Benjamin Siegrist, Yuki Kobayashi, and Alexandro Bernabei.
Conversely, Celtic recently expressed interest in one of Lagerbielke’s old Elfsborg teammates. But Hakon Valdimarsson, the goalkeeper, has relocated to England with Brentford.
