Celtic didn't want to sell striker Patryk Klimala this summer, according to the sporting director of his new club New York Red Bulls.
The Hoops paid Jagiellonia Białystok a sizeable fee of £3.5million for Klimala's services back in January 2020 but the 22-year-old struggled to adapt to Scottish football and managed to find the net just three times in 28 appearances.
But Klimala has landed on his feet after agreeing a move to the Big Apple after the Celtic board accepted a bid from Red Bull's New York-based side, with both parties drawing a swift end to his disappointing spell in Glasgow.
However, according to Red Bulls' Kevin Thelwell, certain members of the Parkhead hierarchy let go of the pacy forward reluctantly, as he told The Athletic : "I had outstanding references on him at Celtic There were some people there who didn’t want to let him go, didn’t feel he had the opportunity perhaps he should have done and were also saying if he did get the opportunity Celtic would have been a lot better for it.
"These are people I trust and people we trust within our network."
Klimala probably won't miss Scotland too much given he's been handed a pretty juicy contract after joining the MLS club.
As we told you earlier this month, Klimala will become one of Red Bulls' highest-paid players, earning an eye-watering $22,000 per-week in New York.
Only time will tell if Celtic acted wisely in cashing-in on Klimala early.
