A Georgian midfielder caused the ‘bizarre’ standoff between Celtic and Sporting – and Levante have profited
Celtic were unwittingly rolled into a ‘bizarre’ transfer standoff according to reports in Spain – forcing Sporting CP to go public with a transfer they’d hoped to keep under the radar.
Georgian playmaker Giorgi Kochorashvili is the man causing the stir, with Sporting moving to land him on a cut price ‘pre-agreement’ in January, after missing out on Andres Garcia, who sealed a move to Aston Villa.
The 25-year-old will leave Levante in the summer, but according to reports in Spain, a strange situation has backed the Portuguese side into a corner.
According to Super Deporte, Sporting’s agreement to sign Kochorashvili was intended to be kept under the radar until the summer, and may have been concluded for a discounted undisclosed price.
But it had a catch – if another club were to make a ‘formal offer’ for the midfielder before the summer, then they’d have to pay a pre-agreed €5.5m (£4.6m) plus a further €2m (£1.7m) in variables.
And it’s claimed that, unaware the agreement had already been signed, Celtic came to the table with a bid this week.
They were then told he had already signed for Sporting.
That forced the Lisbon side to cough up the cash and announce the deal, a development they were hoping to avoid.
Levante stated: “We can confirm Giorgi Kochorashvili has reached an agreement with Sporting Lisbon after negotiations accelerated over the weekend.”
Defensive midfielder Kochorashvili was a key player for Georgia in their first ever major tournament in the summer and he also netted the winning goal in their most recent Nations League match against Albania last month.
