Carl Starfelt disappointment isn’t the start to the summer window Celtic support was looking for

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Yesterday’s news that the Carl Starfelt talks has broken down was a disappointing update for the Celtic support.

Indeed, Fabrizio Romano claimed that the Hoops had backed down from talks with Rubin Kazan regarding the Swedish centre-back. This was said to be partly down to the fact that Celtic are waiting to see what happens with Kris Ajer.

For me, there is so much wrong about this potential scenario from a Celtic perspective.

First off, Celtic have total control over what happens with Ajer’s future. We either tell him he’s staying for another year or that he’ll get this move for a certain fee this summer. But regardless of even that, it should never have affected our search for long-term replacements.

If Celtic hold on to Ajer, we still need a new centre-back in the building. Preferably two. Starfelt looked like being one of them, and considering this was supposedly close with two full weeks until the Midtjylland tie, it looked like a rare case of efficiency from the Hoops in the transfer market.

Carl Starfelt to Celtic would’ve eased some supporters’ concerns

That we’ve decided not to bag him because of Ajer’s future isn’t a great look. It shows a real lack of authority from the club as we close in on our UCL qualifier against the Danish side.

As things stand, our centre-back situation continues to look fairly grim. Ajer, who likely isn’t anywhere near up to 100% match sharpness yet, will likely feature along with Stephen Welsh. The latter still has plenty to learn, and Celtic had plenty of time to get experience in the door.

The Hoops of course could still bring someone in before the July 15th registration deadline. But it’s now becoming a hurry, and that wasn’t the plan a couple of weeks ago.

Celtic have already banked plenty of cash from recent transfer windows without spending. The likes of Jeremie Frimpong, Patryk Klimala, and Vakoun Bayo have allowed us to rake in plenty.

And supporters are asking questions after our failure to progress talks with Starfelt:

In other news: DAVID Turnbull provides fresh insight into Ange Postecoglou’s Celtic training message