Banik Ostrava and Slovakia striker Ladislav Almasi insists that reports linking him with a move to Scottish Premiership champions Celtic only serve to encourage further improvement, speaking to Livesport Zpravy.
Following an injury-interrupted start to the current campaign, Almasi is certainly making up for lost time. This 6ft 5ins beanpole of a number nine has five goals in his last five games for Banik Ostrava, his performances pouring fuel on the speculation pyre with Celtic reportedly one club keeping tabs on the rangy 23-year-old.
Almasi has been linked with the Glasgow giants since the summer months.
The eight-time Slovakia international insists that the rumours are just that at this stage. But he is understandably glad to learn that his current form is not going unnoticed by a wider European audience.
Could Celtic sign Banik Ostrava striker Ladislav Almasi?
“It’s definitely motivation,” Almasi said when quizzed on those Celtic links. “Anyway, so far, I take it all as speculation.
“(My current form is down to) a lot of work, but mainly match practice. Last but not least, my team-mates help me a lot.”
Almasi scored 16 goals in 34 games last season. He also featured against Celtic during a pre-season clash between Banik Ostrava and the Hoops a couple of months ago. Ange Postecoglou’s side triumphed 4-2 in the Czech Republic, while succesfully keeping Almasi off the scoresheet.
“I do not know about it,” Banik Ostrava coach Pavel Vrba told iSport at the time when the subject of Celtic’s interest was brought up.
“If they watched us in training and they liked him, then you can see that they will pay a lot of attention to (the pre-season) match! We’ll see what happens. If he receives an offer and the president says it is interesting, we will deal with it.
“I’ve already heard of a lot of offers from different clubs for different players.”
Celtic, despite boasting a fearsome variety of options in the final third, currently have just two players naturally suited to leading the line in Ange Postecoglou’s 4-3-3 formation; Kyogo Furuhashi and Giorgios Giakoumakis.
There may be room, then, for an old-school targetman like Almasi.
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