PATRYK CAN BE ‘GOLDEN BHOY’

PATRYK KLIMALA, who is poised to confirm his £3.5million switch to Celtic, is part of a Polish ‘Golden Generation’.

The Hoops are ready to sign their first player from the Polish top-flight on a permanent basis since Gordon Strachan brought in Artur Boruc and Maciej Zurawski almost 15 years ago.

Before that, club legend Billy McNeill signed striker Jacki Dziekanowski and defender Dariusz Wdowcyzk, two players who became favourites with the Parkhead support.

Klimala will join the champions as boss Neil Lennon adds much-needed strength to his attack with Odsonne Edouard lacking support for the past year.

Former Dundee and Motherwell defender Tom Hateley, who is in his second stint with Piast Gliwice, reckons Scottish clubs should be scouring Poland while backing the new Bhoy to be a smash-hit.

The 30-year-old faced 21-year-old frontman Klimala earlier in this campaign and helped keep him fairly subdued in a 3-1 win.

But Hateley, in an interview with the Daily Record, admitted the player had a rare off-day on that occasion and he should hit the ground running in the east end of Glasgow.

The versatile back-four operator said: “Polish football is a good standard with good technical players and it’s definitely a league clubs should look at to take players.

“Patryk is a good finisher, very lively, and one of the young up-and-coming Polish strikers who all seem to be getting moves.

“The other one was Adam Buksa who was at Pogon Szczecin and has just gone to New England Revolution in the MLS for around £3million.

“And Legia Warsaw’s Jaroslaw Niezgoda is also going to Portland Timbers for a similar price so they seem to get snapped up.

“Patryk is part of that clutch of young Polish strikers who are emerging, so it’s no surprise to see he is leaving for Celtic.

“Aleksandar Sedlar also went to Real Mallorca in La Liga and he’s playing for them so the majority of players who have moved on to bigger leagues are playing and doing well.”

Hateley added: “But I hope Patryk does well because it will be good for him and the Polish league. Clubs want quality for their money and Celtic are looking at the potential of buying him young and selling him for a lot more.

“Jagiellonia are one of the bigger teams over here and while it’s not on the scale of Celtic, he’s had the pressure of being No.9 for a big team.

“Patryk was someone we were told to watch for before we played Jagiellonia.

“This season is the first time I’d really been made aware of him as a starting No.9 as he was on the fringes last season.

“He was quiet against us, but in the pre-match analysis there was enough evidence to suggest how good he’ll be.”