Celtic will be securing one of the hottest prospects in Europe if they complete a deal to land Sead Haksabanovic, according to his Rubin Kazan boss Leonid Slutsky.
The Premiership champions appear on the brink of signing the Montenegro international for a cut-price fee from Russian club Rubin Kazan after his club reluctantly accepted they would have to sell him. Haksabanovic was previously at West Ham when a youngster, but never fulfilled his initial potential and ended up in Russia after impressing at IFK Norrkoping. And former Russia, Hull City, CSKA Moscow and Vitesse Arnhem manager Slutsky still believes the 23-year-old will go right to the top, after admitting his pending Celtic departure will be a major blow for his club.
He said: "Sead is a very strong player and has all the attributes required to be one of the top attacking midfielders in European football. He's strong, very quick and has an excellent intelligence when it comes to his football brain. What I like about him is his versatility.
He can play in the classic No.10 role, but also as a very skilful left winger. He can also easily play on the right. For me, he was one of the best players in Russian football. He is still young and will just get better and better.
"We would have loved to have kept him, but the situation became very difficult for him personally. His parents were worried, his embassy would call him every day. It became an impossible situation. What I would say is that Rubin Kazan are the most impacted club in Russia when it comes to losing foreign players because Sead will be impossible to replace."
And Haksabanovic admitted how intolerable the situation had become for him when he joined Swedish side Djurgarden on loan earlier this year.
He explained: "In the end, the parents couldn't sleep at night and I knew that, so it made it difficult for me to sleep at night too. They read the news and were researching the situation even more than I was and were continually on the phone. It made it almost impossible for me to focus on my football and it was a worrying time.
"Despite that, I have only praise for Rubin Kazan. They were great to me and the actual situation in the city was not any different from before the war. I don't regret signing for them."
READ NEXT
