Patryk Klimala has officially signed for Celtic today, making him the first in-transfer of this window.
He is a Polish Under 21 striker who has seven goals this season in their top flight.
He will cost us around £4 million and has signed a four year and a half year deal.
Italian club Genoa were reputedly interested, but we’ve beaten them off to secure his signature. He will initially provide competition for Edouard, but is a very different style of player. His physicality will give us the option of playing two strikers in certain games.
None of us knows much about this guy; I’ll have a piece up later today on that very subject.
But he’s been playing at what is arguably a higher level than the SPL and has done enough that our scouts liked the look of him.
It’s a lot of money for a Scottish club – no club outside Glasgow has paid a fee like it. It is more than all the other clubs in Scotland have spent combined during this window, and that’s worth explaining to those who might want to take shots at us.
Klimala might not be known to us, but who had heard of French Eddie before he signed?
Few if any of our fans knew who he was. Some hadn’t heard of Larsson back in the day.
What we can do is give this boy the opportunity to impress us.
Some cynics and hacks will not give him that chance. I am sure the Celtic Family will be right behind him though. He is on course to make his debut this weekend.
Welcome, Patryk, to the greatest club in the world.
You are arriving at a momentous time for all of us, and the challenges – and opportunities – are huge.
Do well for us and there’s a place in history, the kind that never gets erased.
Make yourself a hero.
Make yourself an icon.