Former Celtic striker Patryk Klimala has seen a transfer scuppered after a fan protest halted the deal. The 25-year-old had been set to sign for Belgian side Standard Liege but the club’s fanbase took offence to a gesture that the striker appeared to make against Hapoel Jerusalem while playing for Hapoel Be’er Sheva.
The gesture sparked an online outrage with Klimala defending himself and claiming that the gesture was innocent. Despite this, Liege’s fans have made it clear that they do not want the deal to take place and now it has been binned.
Klimala had been plying his trade in his homeland with Slask Wroclaw; however, it was their president Patryk Załeczny that confirmed the deal would not proceed: “The transfer will now not take place.
“A change of environment will be good for Patryk, although of course, we do not take away from the fact that he is a really good player.”
Celtic signed the player for £3.5m from Jagiellonia in January 2020 and appeared to recoup the fee just sixteen months later when the player left for New York Red Bulls.
Klimala managed just five starting appearances in the 2020/21 season but was Celtic’s most used substitute coming off the bench 23 times. The player arrived as an unknown quantity and departed without fans being impressed by what they saw.