Luis Palma wants to leave Celtic permanently but admits it’s down to Celtic and Lech Poznan to thrash out a deal
10:01, 16 Feb 2026Updated 16:31, 16 Feb 2026
Luis Palma – Celtic career in pictures
Luis Palma has told Celtic he wants to leave the club permanently to stay at Lech Poznan – but admits it’s out of his hands.
The Honduran international winger is on a season-long loan in Poland and they have a clause that would allow them to buy him for £4million.
However, that would almost double their record transfer fee and they have repeatedly said they would need Celtic to lower their demands to allow them to snap up Palma on a longer-term deal. And the 26-year-old – who still has two-and-a-half years left on his Hoops deal – has made it clear he wants to stay in Poland, despite having been dumped onto the bench for Lech in recent matches.
Palma said: “I hope to stay at Lech for a long time. But it’s not just my decision. I’m doing my thing day by day and I’m very happy about it.
“All I can do is keep doing that, but not everything depends on me. I have been a substitute in recent matches and that’s the decision of the manager. But I always have the team’s best interests at heart.
“I am working hard to get my place back in the team. That’s football for you.”
Meanwhile Stuttgart boss Sebastian Hoeness paid tribute to his player Tiago Tomas ahead of their trip to face Celtic this week after he burst into tears on the pitch.
The Bundesliga high-fliers face the Hoops in the first leg of the Europa League play-off round at Parkhead.
Stuttgart warmed up for the game with a 3-1 win over Cologne, which featured the return of Portuguese striker Tomas, after he had been absent for weeks due to the death of his father.
Tomas burst into tears after the game and had to be comforted by his teammates and the coaching staff in emotional scenes. And Hoeness insisted Tomas, who cost Stuttgart £12 million, will get all the support he needs.
He said: “The pictures speak for themselves. I don’t think much more needs to be said. Tiago is a very special person to us and has simply gone through a very difficult few weeks.
“It was certainly emotional for him to be back on the pitch after a long injury. Emotions ran high, and the team has a sense for that.
“It wasn’t an injury or anything. It was something family-related and that’s probably why, after such a long time, when he’s back on the pitch, the emotions came up. The guys tried to comfort him and give him strength.”
And Tomas was praised by TV pundit, German legend Lothar Matthaus. He added: “Clearly, a lot of camaraderie has developed here. There are things that are more important than football. And together they can help him get out of this situation so that he can return to the team.”
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