Celtic’s attempts to sign Carl Starfelt appear to have stalled with the defender pictured in training with Rubin Kazan.
Early on Wednesday morning Fabrizio Romano and Expressen in Sweden reported that the deal had almost been concluded but Thursday’s 11pm UEFA deadline passed without any confirmation of the transfer.
Starfelt signed a contract extension with Rubin in February but particularly after the last 15 months every player has a price with £4.3m reported for the defender.
Here he is. pic.twitter.com/SO1XD5wc3V
— Russian Football News (@RusFootballNews) July 16, 2021
Celtic have reached an agreement with Rubin Kazan to sign Carl Starfelt, done deal and here we go. €5m as final fee – negotiations completed. Next target: Brandon Soppy. ??? #Celtic
Official announcement soon for Starfelt, personal terms agreed as advanced one week ago. ?? https://t.co/2X9k2zqb48
— Fabrizio Romano (@FabrizioRomano) July 14, 2021
With no sign of Starfelt Celtic’s defensive options to face Midtjylland looks extremely limited.
Kris Ajer hasn’t played in any of the pre-season matches and seems on the brink of a move to Brentford. With Chris Jullien still out injured Stephen Welsh and Nir Bitton look certain to face the Danes with Leo Hjelde and Dane Murray as the back-up options.
Two changes can be made before 11pm on Monday to the squad registered with UEFA for the Midtjylland ties which take place on July 20 and 28.