Open secret let loose amid long-term Celtic striker target pursuit and winter transfer window bids
Celtic have had long-standing transfer interest in a star in Scandinavia.
A sporting director has cleared the air over bids put into his club for key men amid a long-running Celtic pursuit over one of them.
The Hoops support has been left frustrated after no new striker came in during January to replace Rennes-bound Kyogo. They showed little sign of that bothering them on Wednesday night as they smashed Dundee 6-0 in the Premiership to tighten their grip on first place.
One player Rodgers has craved throughout his reign in is Mathias Kvistgaarden. For multiple windows now, the Brondby striker has been linked and back in 2023 he went as far to talking over the Hoops interest. Celtic were again reported as a winter suitor this window and chairman Jan Bech Andersen revealed this week they received offers for Kvistgaarden but decided to keep him.
Now sporting director Benjamin Schmedes, has been asked about the Celtic target on Viaplay, and says it wasn’t hard to convince key men to stay put until the summer transfer window. He said: “I don’t officially comment on bids, but it’s no secret that we have some players who are exciting for bigger leagues and bigger clubs.
“Of course, there was some work for us to persuade a few to stay, but I think everyone, including the players, can be happy to be here, where we have a big spring season ahead of us.
“It wasn’t hard to keep the squad together. Even those players who might want to go abroad at some point can see the opportunities here in the second half of the season.
“I received a lot of phone calls in general, but of course also about several players. Other clubs called to get information about the state of things, that’s how it is. But we had no interest in selling any of our key players, so that’s why we stuck to the plan to keep them.