Selling Sead Haksabanovic to Celtic could be one way out of the financial crisis facing Rubin Kazan, according to general director Rustem Saimanov.
Record Sport revealed on Wednesday lunchtime the Hoops had renewed their interest in the versatile winger with a potential move back on the cards. The Montenegro wide man is thought to be desperate to leave the Russian club despite signing a five-year deal last summer and his team are ready to grant his wish.
Previously on the books at West Ham, Haksabanovic wants a move back to western Europe and he fits Ange Postecoglou 's criteria of a young player who can cover in several positions. And Saimanov admits both he and Danish midfielder Oliver Abildgaard are up for sale amid a financial "crisis" - but won't be sold for buttons. A £6million price tag had been mooted for Haksabanovic but it's believed that has now been slashed.
Saimanov said: "We are in talks with both of them - of course, they both want to leave. But we aren't letting them go for nothing because we want some money for them. We are waiting on bids.
"Our situation is extremely worrying. Our budget has halved. I regard myself as being in a crisis management role. Our players all arrive for free now and no club has given us a single penny for transfers. We have been robbed by FIFA and UEFA. Everyone says that we have a big budget, but we also have big obligations. We have an academy which we spend millions of rubles on. Additionally, we have a women's team playing in the major leagues. All this eats up money.
"And then we have obligations on loans that we don’t want, but you need to repay. We thought we could sell our best players for money which we didn't get, the TV rights are down too. We budgeted for all this and got nothing."
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