There appears to be rapid progress in the rekindled Celtic interest in signing Sead Haksabanovi from Russian side Rubin Kazan. The story re-ignited yesterday as we reported on The Celtic Star and there’s been a further development today with Russian Football News reporting on information supplied by reliable football journalist Vladislav Zimagulov who claims the deal with Celtic to sign the player has now been agreed.
‘Rubin Kazan have agreed to sell Sead Haksabanovic to Celtic for less than the €6.5m they paid for him last summer, according to the reliable Vladislav Zimagulov. He’ll link up with former teammate Carl Starfelt in Glasgow’ Russian Football News reports, and they provide a link for their source.
Sead Haksabanovic has been capped 28 times by Montenegro and has apparently made no secret of his wish to join Celtic now that the Scottish Champions interest has been revealed.
As reported yesterday: Haksabanovic may be a recognisable name to some, given the wide player spent time in the EPL with West Ham, as well as on loan with Malaga, before Swedish side Norrköping signed the player on a permanent basis from the Hammers.
Since then, Rubin Kazan picked up Haksabanovic on a permanent deal before loaning the player to Djurgården last season. The Swedish club are keen for the player to return to them this season, however they are only in the market for a loan deal, something Rubin Kazan may well return to at a later date, but it appears the Russian club are keen to offload the player permanently if the right deal can be agreed.
Ange Postecoglou has already stated following Celtic’s 5-0 win over Kilmarnock last weekend, that a couple of new faces may still arrive to supplement the current first team squad, but was keen to emphasise such players would ideally be able to perform in more than one position.
Haksabanovic may fit the bill, as despite playing predominately on the left wing, he has also been utilised on the right wing and as a central attacking midfielder, as well as a striker, and such versatility may well be in his favour if indeed Celtic are looking to bring the player before the transfer window closes.
Yet there would also be nagging concerns. At the top level Haksabanovic only played twice for both West Ham and Malaga and Rubin Kazan is his sixth club already despite only being 23 years old. That said, a nomadic existence on loan clearly didn’t do Cameron Carter-Vickers any harm prior to arriving in Glasgow and that particular deal worked out very nicely indeed.
In terms of age, an ability to operate in multiple positions and as a player with a point to prove, Haksabanovic would certainly appear to fit the transfer profile of the majority of Postecoglou’s signings. As such, it will be interesting to see how this one develops in the next couple of weeks.
19th December 2021; Hampden Park, Glasgow, Scotland; Scottish League Cup final, Hibernian versus Celtic: Mikey Johnston of Celtic on the ball
It now looks like Haksabanovic will be joining Celtic and as always the support will be confident in Ange Postecoglou’s judgement in the transfer market. His arrival could also signal developments in the Mikey Johnston situation with the talented Celtic winger tipped to be on the verge of signing for Sunderland for a season long loan.
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