Lech Poznań chairman’s ongoing dialogue with Celtic on Luis Palma transfer

Lech Poznan chairman Piotr Rutkowski has confirmed ongoing dialogue with Celtic as the Polish champions continue to explore the possibility of keeping Luis Palma beyond his loan spell…

Rutkowski revealed discussions with the Scottish champions are held on a regular basis, but he accepts the chances of Celtic reducing their valuation remain extremely slim.

Palma has quickly become a standout performer in Poland, delivering an impressive return of goals and assists that has underlined his growing importance to Lech’s attacking play across all competitions.

An option exists to make the move permanent, but only if Lech meet Celtic’s full asking price – a figure that would significantly eclipse the club’s current transfer record, set when Yannick Agnero arrived from Swedish outfit Halmstads BK for £2 million.

Rutkowski acknowledged that Palma’s excellent form has complicated matters, admitting the 25-year-old’s performances may ultimately push a permanent deal beyond the club’s financial reach.

Speaking via The Herald, Rutkowski said: “I speak to Celtic around once a month and there’s not much chance of them lowering their asking price. The dilemma is that the more he scores, the slimmer the chances are of him signing here permanently because Celtic won’t want to lower their transfer fee.

“And of course, if he doesn’t score and assist as many, we’ll start to wonder about signing him permanently because we have to consider if he’s worth the money.”

The Lech Poznan chairman added: “We’ll wait until May and make a decision then. Then we will know where we have finished in the league and have an idea of finances. There will be players leaving and so many different things happening so we will wait until then to get a clearer picture.”

It would be best for all parties if Palma made his move to Lech Poznan permanent in the summer. Celtic are shrewd negotiators when it comes to selling players, so there may be a bit of haggling to be done!

Conor Spence