What Celtic really said about Maik Nawrocki as Legia Warsaw’s ex-boss lifts lid on scout reports

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Maik Nawrocki’s transfer to Celtic is certainly a strange one.

Bought for £4.5m in 2023, Nawrocki was Celtic’s most expensive transfer that summer, and it seemed like he would be the man to partner Cameron Carter-Vickers in the heart of the Hoops defence.

However, injury hampered the big Polish defender’s start to his Celtic career, which, coupled with Liam Scales’ emergence to the Bhoys first team squad, meant that Nawrocki has had to bide his time at Parkhead.

With Brendan Rodgers seemingly reluctant to use the defender, what did Celtic’s scouts think of Nawrocki to convince the club to shell out the guts of £5m for the uncapped Polish defender?

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Celtic’s verdict on Maik Nawrocki as Legia Warsaw’s ex-boss praises ‘dangerous’ defender

Legia Warsaw’s ex-boss Kosta Runjaic has been left feeling bamboozled as Nawrocki’s plight at Celtic and has lifted the lid on what the Parkhead scouts said about the Polish defender.

Runjaic told The Scottish Sun, “He was an important player for me. Maik was a young player back then and he played a lot of games for us.

“He is a good, technical player. He passes the ball very well, he is good with his head in defence and offence, which makes him really dangerous for opponents.

“I also thought he had good, solid speed. Overall, Nawrocki was a very important player for that Legia team.”

Celtic said Maik Nawrocki was ‘a player with real potential’

So it seems that Nawrocki was really highly rated by Runjaic which then brings us on to what Celtic’s scout said about him.

Runjaic continued, “He scored four or five goals and we won two titles. You have to ask Celtic why it hasn’t worked out for Maik there so far. I honestly don’t know why. It is nearly two years now since he left Legia.

“Celtic scouted him, they analysed him — and saw him as a player with real potential. I saw Maik the same way, someone who could get better.

“Celtic is a top-level club and maybe the move was too fast for him, I don’t know. Nawrocki is a boy with good character, and with his qualities he can still do well there.”

So if Celtic did rate Nawrocki highly, then it leads to one question. What did the scouts see that Brendan Rodgers doesn’t, or is simply a case that the defender just found himself in the right movie at the wrong time after Scales’ emergence?

After Nawrocki’s impressive performance against Rangers, maybe Rodgers will find a place for him at Celtic but, it seems that only time will tell on this one.