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The National (Scotland)
The National (Scotland)
Sport
David Irvine

Celtic transfer target Lagerbielke's royal connection revealed

Celtic could land a royal replacement for Carl Starfelt should Gustaf Lagerbielke complete a transfer switch to Parkhead.

The defender, 23, is thought to be viewed as a potential successor to Starfelt in Glasgow with the Celtic defender set to leave the club this summer.

And Lagerbielke is among the player being targeted by Celtic - with initial interest confirmed by Elfsborg chief Stefan Andreasson.

Now, it has been revealed that Lagerbielke has a royal connection in his homeland and is number 254 in line for the Swedish throne.

While Celtic are interested in his defensive capabilities on the pitch, it appears Lagerbielke is well set off the park, even if he doesn't use his title of Baron.

The son of Count Johan Lagerbielke, the defender is a descendent from a family which gives him his own title and coat of arms. He previously wore a pair of shinguards with the coat of arms on them.

As quoted by the Daily Record on his royal connections, Lagerbielke said: “For me it’s nothing special. But I understand that people can think it’s funny because it’s not that common to have names like that in the football world.

"For me it’s just a name and everything gets a little bit magnified.”

On the Celtic transfer interest Elfsborg chief Andreasson told Fotbollkanalen: "We have had a dialogue in this case. There is an interest, yes.

"But we are not in a negotiation. Then the club must move from interest to acting powerfully and concretely. We are not there right now.

"The trade-off is, as always, in the summer window. We have managed to have healthy conversations with our players.

"The most important thing is the club and the situation we are in. We are always positive that players can go for the right price.

"Many players want to leave Sweden. So we have dialogues when there is a good time for it.

"Sometimes, when we don't think the bid is good enough, we might say no, and then it might take a while, and then something better might come along, and then players might still be happy. We know roughly what it would mean for a transfer for some players.

"We have a dialogue with the players and their representatives. We have that with multiple players now. Partly with Gustaf, partly with several others. These are pleasant problems."

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