Should Celtic stay clear of signing Kryiakos Papadopoulos, despite Brendan Rodgers being a long-time fan?
According to The Scotsman, Celtic are interested in signing a long-time Brendan Rodgers target this summer: Kryiakos Papadopoulos.
The Hamburg centre-back could be relegated to the second tier of German football this season and it looks like the Celtic boss is weighing up a swoop for the 26-year-old who has previously eluded him.
The former Liverpool manager tried and failed to bring the Greece international to Anfield in 2013 and 2015 and it will be interesting to see if the Northern Irishman is any more successful this time around.
According to Transfermarkt, Papadopoulos was valued at around £16 million in 2012, but could now be available for only half that – but should Rodgers steer well clear?
Prior to joining Hamburg last summer, Papadopoulos had a six-month loan at Leipzig but only managed a total of 27 minutes of Bundesliga football and one of the centre-halves who kept him on the bench was now-Celtic defender Marvin Compper.
The 32-year-old joined Rodgers’s side in a £1 million deal in January, but if the Bhoys boss does want Papadopoulos then it might suggest that he doesn’t expect big things from Compper.
If Rodgers plans on spending £8 million on a defender this summer then it must be someone far better than what Celtic already have, but does that apply to Papadopoulos? Based on the fact he couldn’t dislodge Compper only 18 months ago, probably not.
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