Recently, The Scottish Sun reported that Celtic and Rangers were after Chelsea defender Tomas Kalas who is currently on a loan spell with Championship outfit Bristol City. The report added that Celtic are leading the chase for the defender and the defender was being valued at £5m. However, the latest news from the same publication adds that Bristol City will fight to sign the defender again after his loan spell expires.
The Robins currently occupy the seventh spot in the Championship table and are fighting to get in the playoff spots. Not many count them as favourites to with the Championship playoff. However, if something like that happens, then there is no doubt that Kalas would prefer a move to Bristol City instead of Celtic.
The defender joined London based outfit, Chelsea, when he was just 16 but has only made four appearances for them in nine years. The defender has had seven loan spells, and we don’t think that he would make another appearance for the Blues even though his contract with them is until 2021.
Therefore the Pensioners could look to offload him permanently in the summer and quite a few clubs could be after his signature given his impressive performance in the Championship.
Even last season, the defender played for Fulham and helped them gain a move to the Premier League. Celtic would need a defender or two in the summer as they are going to lose the services of Dedryck Boyata and Filip Benkovic. Kalas can also double up as a right back and that is another position where Celtic might want to add an option or two as the likes of Mikael Lustig and Cristian Gamboa are in the final few months of their contract. Also, Jeremy Toljan joined the club on a six-month loan.
On paper, Kalas looks like a perfect player for the Hoops, and his experience of playing in the Championship is going to come in handy. The Czech international is robust in his challenges whether it is in the air or on the ground, and he showcases decent pace for a defender.
We feel that he can be a dominant force in the Scottish Premiership and Celtic should do everything in their means to bring him to Parkhead. However, the Robins could end up being the frontrunner to sign the defender (if they surprise everyone and get promoted) as Kalas is already enjoying an impressive loan spell with them and they too seem keen on the defender after the recent reports. However, in our opinion, the chances of Bristol City getting promoted are not much, and so Celtic are still our favourites to land the defender.
