Report: Carl Starfelt set to fly in and join Celtic soon

By John McGinley

July 17, 2021

The Carl Starfelt to Celtic deal is ‘done’ according to renowned transfer journalist Fabrizio Romano.

Romano reckons that the Swedish central defender will fly into Scotland within 24 hours to formally complete his move from Rubin Kazan.

Writing on Twitter, he said: “Starfelt to Celtic is done. Starfelt will fly within the next 24 hours to sign and complete the deal in every detail.”

Romano is generally reliable on these matters. However, as always, a deal is never completed until the club announces it. We’ve had to learn that over the years.

Carl Starfelt represents first major Celtic move to fix shaky defence

Starfelt will be a major defensive acquisition. Celtic badly need it. Currently, Ange Postecoglou is relying on a mixture of untested youth and long-term fringe players.

With Kristoffer Ajer also on the verge of an exit, Starfelt’s presence will be very welcome indeed.

The 26-year-old has played three times for his country and has made over 100 appearances in the Swedish and Russian top-flights.

His experience will help talents like Stephen Welsh and Osaze Urhoghide in the backline.

For Celtic, this is just the start of a defensive revamp. The club badly needs a right-back in the door too, but there are promising signs that they will address that problem position too.

Attackers Kyogo Furuhashi and Liel Abada have already signed up over the last few days. Now it’s time for Celtic to finalise Starfelt and get more in the door.

None of it was really done in time for the FC Midtjylland clash, but it’s a long season and these transfers are better late than never.

In other news, Scott Sinclair can’t wait to see Celtic fans again today.