The Celtic: Hoops team gave a masterful performance with the sale of “skilled” flop.

Following his transfer to Parkhead for an undisclosed fee, the centre-forward experienced a challenging period with the Scottish champions.

Neil Lennon, the former manager of Celtic, had a successful two-year tenure with the club, winning ten trophies in total. The Northern Irish coach was a dominant figure in Scottish football, winning five Scottish Premiership titles, the most recent of which was achieved during the 2019/20 season.

Competition	Season won
Premiership	2011/12
Premiership	2012/13
Premiership	2013/14
Premiership	2018/19
Premiership	2019/20
Scottish Cup	2010/11
Scottish Cup	2012/13
Scottish Cup	2018/19
Scottish Cup	2019/20
League Cup

 

Via Transfermarkt.

During Lennon’s two seasons in charge at Parkhead, there was a lack of consistency in his approach to the transfer market, with some of his decisions being highly questionable, such as the acquisition of Patryk Kolala from Bialystocki striker.

The Poland youth international flopped at Paradise and it took the club securing a phenomenal piece of business after the Northern Irish head coach moved on to make up for the signing’s failure.

How much did Celtic pay for Klimala?

The Hoops reportedly agreed a £3.5m deal to sign the young centre-forward despite having yet to prove himself as a regular scorer at first-team level by that point in his career.

At the time of the move, in January 2020, FootballTransfers placed his Expected Transfer Value (xTV) at €600k (£514k), which is considerably less than the £3.5m Lennon and Celtic sanctioned to sign him.

This suggests that the Scottish giants massively overpaid for the 6 foot marksman as they lavished a big transfer fee on an unproven player whose market value was less than £1m.

Klimala was coming off the back of seven goals in 17 Ekstraklasa matches during the first half of the 2019/20 campaign and that came after the attacker struggled throughout the previous season.

He produced one goal and one assist in 22 games in the Polish top-flight during the 2018/19 term, and arrived at Parkhead with 11 goals and four assists in 50 senior appearances for Bialystok in all competitions.

The Poland U21 international had, however, shown promise at youth level with a stunning 17 goals in nine U19 clashes for Bialystok, whilst he also scored 13 goals in 27 outings in the second division of Polish football on loan with Wigry Suwalki during the 2017/18 campaign.

How many goals did Klimala score for Celtic?

Klimala endured a rough 18 months with the Scottish side as he only found the back of the net three times in 28 competitive appearances in all competitions for the club.

Lennon snapped him up in January of the 2019/20 campaign and slowly bedded him in with four outings during the second half of the season.

He produced one assist in two SFA Cup clashes and did not contribute to any goals in his two Scottish Premiership games, although the young forward only played 15 minutes of football in those matches.

Klimala then played 17 times in the Premiership throughout the following season but was unable to prove his worth to Lennon as he managed three goals and zero assists in that time.

The Polish attacker averaged an unimpressive Sofascore rating of 6.65 in those games and missed five ‘big chances’, which shows that he was not clinical with the opportunities that did come his way at the top end of the pitch.

27 other players averaged a higher Sofascore rating within the Celtic squad and this highlights how disappointing his displays were when he was given a chance to showcase his skills.

His lack of physicality was also evident as the £3.5m signing lost 68% of his aerial battles and 57% of his duels in total in the top-flight, as per Sofascore, which shows that opposition defenders found it far too easy to get the better of him in physical contests.

He also made seven appearances in the cup competitions, domestically and in Europe, throughout the 2020/21 campaign and failed to deliver a single goal or assist.

How much did Celtic sell Klimala for?

Celtic decided to cash in on the Polish centre-forward in April 2021, which came two months after Lennon was relieved of his duties in February, and played a masterclass in doing so as they were able to rake in a reported fee of €6m (£5m).

The Hoops sold him to MLS outfit New York Red Bulls and made a £1.5m profit, despite his struggles on the pitch throughout his time in Glasgow.

Red Bulls chief Kevin Thelwell hailed him as a “talented” ace and Klimala showcased his quality in front of goal with eight strikes and six assists in 26 MLS starts throughout the 2021 campaign.

However, his form did not last as the former Bhoys lightweight then struggled during the 2022 season and ended the term with five goals and three assists in 29 league outings.

Where is Klimala now?

The 25-year-old finisher is currently playing for Hapoel Beer Sheva in Israel after moving to the club from New York Red Bulls in January of this year.

Klimala has failed to deliver consistent quality at the top end of the pitch since his latest switch as he has scored three goals in 20 appearances in all competitions to date, which includes zero strikes in five matches this term.

At the time of writing (15/09/2023), FootballTransfers has his xTV at €1m (£857k) and this shows that Celtic played a masterclass with their deal to sell him to Red Bulls for a staggering £5m.

The Scottish giants were able to make a £1.5m profit on the Polish flop, in spite of his poor performances on the pitch, and have now watched on as he has struggled to kick on his career beyond life in Glasgow.

Klimala is not playing in a major European league and his market value is nowhere near the fee that they raked in for his services in 2021, which shows that the club made the right decision by selling him when they did.

The signing proved to be a failure for Lennon in the field, however the Hoops Board ensured that a positive legacy would be created from Klimala’s tenure at Parkhead, with a remarkable piece of business that they can regard as a great achievement in light of Lennon’s lack of form in the final-third since leaving the club.