Scottish Premiership champions Celtic reportedly wanted to sign Husein Balic from St Polten.
Chelsea aren’t the only club in Europe being forced to make do and mend thanks to a transfer ban.
Like the giants from Stamford Bridge, Austrian outfit St Polten were stopped from spending money on any new players during the summer of 2019. And, like the giants from Stamford Bridge, St Polten weren’t about to sell their key players willingly when they had no chance to sign any replacements.
According to The Mail, Celtic were interested in Austrian U21 speed machine Husein Balic while concluding a deal to sign Israeli right-back Hatem Abd Elhamed.
But while one did arrive, the other missed out on a move to the dominant force of Scottish football despite The Mail claiming that Balic was valued at just £700,000. And we might have just found out why.
“Due to our special situation, we would have only let Balic leave if we had received a really very good offer,” general manager Andreas Blumauer told Spox, while confirming interest from Austrian rivals LASK Linz and Rapid Vienna.
Comparisons can be drawn, then, with Callum Hudson-Odoi. While Chelsea had no choice but to let Eden Hazard chase a dream move to Real Madrid before his contract expired, The Blues were not about to cash in on their most exciting young talent when it would have been impossible to replace him.
Balic scored eight goals and produced five assists for St Polten last season and a £700,000 windfall is worthless when you can’t reinvest it. Bad luck Celtic. Maybe next year.
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