Celtic have been in contact with Sturm Graz about striker Szymon Wlodarczyk but the Scottish Premiership champions look destined for disappointment after being informed that the Poland international will cost up to £17 million.
That is according to Polish publication Meczyki. As reporter and namesake Tomasz Wlodarczyk points out, Celtic could be left ‘kicking themselves’.
The Hoops wanted Szymon Wlodarczyk when he was still plying his trade at Gornik Zabrze, after all. The 20-year-old eventually moved to Sturm Graz for around £1.7 million, and his price-tag has risen tenfold since packing his bags and heading to Austria.
Szymon Wlodarczyk is too expensive for Celtic
Celtic, Meczyki say, have been in contact with Sturm Graz recently. Their on-again, off-again pursuit of Wlodarczyk appears to be over before it really got going this time, however. Sturm are making it clear that the Poland U21 international will cost a fee in the region of 20 million euros these days.
It goes without saying that, while Celtic have money in the bank, Brendan Rodgers’ side are not going to be shattering their transfer record with an eye-watering £17 million swoop next month.
With nine goals in 28 games, Wlodarczyk is not the most prolific of forwards, producing statistics which do not really go hand-in-hand with his colossal price-tag. His record is almost identical to that of Oh Hyeon-Gyu. The striker Celtic signed instead when first taking a look at Wlodarczyk 11 months ago.
Brendan Rodgers wants a striker
With Wlodarczyk seemingly out of the picture, then, Celtic could instead step up their pursuit of Brondby’s Sydney van Hooijdonk, Aberdeen’s Bojan Miovski or Brondby’s Mathias Kvistgaarden.
The Hoops failed with a £4 million bid for Kvistgaarden over the summer but remain interested. Aberdeen, meanwhile, have made it clear that Miovski is not for sale in the January window.
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