Celtic FC under Neil Lennon are believed to be keen on signing Legia Warsaw left-back Michal Karbownik amidst targeted interest from Napoli, Real Betis, and Dynamo Moscow.
The Hoops have been lauded for their ability to bring in bright young footballing prospects to Parkhead and jumpstarting their career to a future of immense footballing glory. The likes of Moussa Dembele, Virgil Van Dijk, and most recently, Kieran Tierney can bear great testament to that. A sound footballing philosophy that has its immense hardships and complications arising from being able to scout the right players, watching hours of in-depth scout reports, and player footage to making a decision and warding off interest from other clubs to seal the deal.
The world of identifying talent is becoming smaller with clubs fighting for the same players, it is a philosophy that more and more clubs will now be looking to embrace given the financial constraints they will be facing and the utter lack of revenue hitting them over the past couple of months. Yet for clubs like Celtic, Atlanta, Southampton, and certain others, much of their long term future and stability of the club depends on being able to work these deals to their liking and this is where Celtic’s next transfer target comes into the picture.
Michal Karbownik, a 19-year-old left-back from Legia Warsaw who was being intensely scouted by major clubs like Napoli, Celtic, Barcelona, and is now being tipped to make a move to Scottish Premiership champions Celtic when the transfer window reopens.
The Polish under-19 player, came through the ranks at Warsaw before breaking into the first team last season and his performances this season have now been deeply noticed with scouts from Barcelona, Celtic and Dynamo Moscow being present on numerous occasions during his games. MailSport report that the Hoops have scouted him on two occasions at least before football became suspended.
With 27 appearances in all competitions this season, combined with seven assists, Michal Karbownik has been hugely impressive at left-back and can also play in a midfield role if required.
For Celtic though, it would be quite a surprise if they actually went ahead and ceded to Legia Warsaw’s asking price of €4 million(£3.5m) for the deal, given that they already have Greg Taylor and Boli Bolingoli who play in the left-back role. The only point to raise here is that Michal Karbownik is right-footed which means Neil Lennon might have envisioned him operating on the opposite flank in support of breakout star Jeremie Frimpong who is highly rated by Neil Lennon and his staff.
It has been reported that Barcelona actually had an agreed transfer deal that fell apart at the last minute probably because of internal dithering or penny pinching from the Catalan side due to the health crisis and that Premier League giants Tottenham had also lodged a £10 million interest in the player, according to a report in the Mirror.
Michal Karbownik would represent another one of those prospective gambles which the club have to make in the hopes that over the next couple of years, the player can prove his worth with his rampaging performances much like his predecessor Kieran Tierney did. The success that they have enjoyed with him could help make their mind on whether to pursue him or not, but the illustrious company that Celtic find themselves in with respect to keeping tabs on this prospect should bear testament to what the major footballing clubs of the world think about him and the prospective future he could have.