Greek international defender Kryiakos Papadopoulos is likely to leave Bundesliga giants Hamburg but will Scottish Premiership champions Celtic make a move?
Hamburg have never been relegated from the Bundesliga but that looks set to change. The so-called ‘dinosaur’ are eight points adrift of the relegation play-off place and are staring extinction right in the face.
And, just to make matters worse, the club is in dire straits off the field too, meaning many of their key players will be sold in the summer. According to Hamburger Morgenpost, the popular Greek centre-back Kryiakos Papadopoulos is one of those the club will look to cash in on.
Though it will interesting to see whether Celtic take advantage. After all, Hoops manager Brendan Rodgers is a big fan of Papadopoulos and was very hopeful of bringing him to Liverpool in the summer of 2015, when the defender was still at Schalke, as reported by The Mirror.
It is understood that Rodgers had scouted him extensively over the previous couple of seasons, only for the highly-rated stopper to join Bundesliga rivals Bayer Leverkusen instead.
And though Papadopoulos has two years remaining on his current Hamburg deal, the club’s precarious financial predicament means they will likely be forced to sell him on the cheap.
That is where Rodgers’ current club, Celtic, come in.
The backline has been a constant source of worry for Hoops fans of late and, judging by how Jozo Simunovic and Dedryck Boyata performed in the topsy turvy 3-2 Old Firm win against Rangers on Sunday, defensive reinforcements are a must.
And though Papadopoulos hasn’t quite lived up to expectations and developed into one of Europe’s top defensive talents, he is just 26 years of age and has a long career ahead of him. For everyone involved, perhaps now is the time he finally joins forces with Rodgers.
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