Luis Palma is probably not at the top of Celtic’s priorities at the moment.
The Honduran winger is one of a number of players out on loan from Celtic Park. He is at Lech Poznan in Poland, with a €4.5 million option to buy.
He was very much left in the wilderness by Brendan Rodgers in the summer, being deemed surplus to requirements at the beginning of the year.
That’s despite Palma making a relatively solid start to his Celtic career after being signed in 2023.
But as he returns to form in Poland, his club have been publicly discussing their frustrations with Celtic’s approach to selling him.
Should Celtic still be shopping in the J-League market?
Lech Poznan president on Celtic man Luis Palma
The Honduran star is back at his best in Poland, where he has secured European knockout football in the Conference League.
But if Lech are to pay his buyout fee, they will need to pay more than double their record transfer fee.
READ MORE: Nicky Hayen lands new role weeks after Celtic comments, sets up ironic first game
This has created a difficult situation for club president Piotr Rutkowski, as Palma’s value increases with his strong performances.
He said: “I speak to Celtic around once a month and there’s not much chance of them lowering their asking price.
“The dilemma is that the more he scores, the slimmer the chances are of him signing here permanently because Celtic won’t want to lower their transfer fee.
“And of course, if he doesn’t score and assist as many, we’ll start to wonder about signing him permanently because we have to consider if he’s worth the money.
“We’ll wait until May and make a decision then. Then we will know where we have finished in the league and have an idea of finances.
“There will be players leaving and so many different things happening so we will wait until then to get a clearer picture.”
Reports in Honduras have claimed that Wilfried Nancy would consider recalling Palma, but these have been debunked by outlets in Poland.
Palma may have rediscovered his form, but at the moment it looks unlikely that he will play for Celtic (or Lech) beyond this season.
Would you give Luis Palma another chance at Celtic?
Luis Palma’s Celtic career
Palma was brought to Glasgow from Aris Thessaloniki in the final days of Rodgers’ first transfer window after returning.
The window had such a bad hit-rate that Mark Lawwell ended up leaving the club, but unlike some other recruits, Palma did make solid contributions to the side.
He scored two goals in the Champions League group stage, also providing a hat-trick of assists in a game against Aberdeen.
But in his second season, he found it impossible to make it into the team’s first-choice attack, and made his last Hoops appearance last January.
Receive a digest of our best Celtic content each week direct to your mailbox
