Paderborn stand firm over Celtic target Mika Baur | OneFootball

Paderborn sporting director Sebastian Lange has revealed the club have already turned down approaches for several players this summer, including Celtic’s reported £4 million bid for midfielder Mika Baur.

Mika Baur of Germany in action during the UEFA Under21 EURO Qualifier between Germany U21 and Northern Ireland U21 at Eintracht Stadion on March 27, 2026 in Braunschweig, Germany. (Photo by Stuart Franklin/Getty Images)

The Scottish champions remain keen on the Germany Under-21 international as they look to strengthen Martin O’Neill’s squad, but Paderborn are standing firm over one of their prized assets following an impressive campaign.

Lange insisted the Bundesliga side are under no financial pressure to cash in and stressed that every offer received so far has fallen well below the club’s valuation.

He told NW Sport: “It’s nonsense. I have no idea where this stuff comes from.

“Have there been offers for players during this transfer window? Yes. Are there offers right now? No. Why not? Because we rejected them all. There are sporting and financial reasons for this.

“Ultimately, we decide what is of interest to us. And everything that came in was, from a financial standpoint, of no interest to us whatsoever.”

Asked directly about Baur and the reported Celtic offer, Lange explained that Paderborn never seriously considered accepting any proposal during the current window.

He said: “We didn’t have to think twice during this transfer window.

“There are a few players (we have received offers for). And that’s nothing unusual. There were even players involved whom you wouldn’t expect. Four to five. That includes players from the U21 squad. It’s not as if we have offers for four key players.

“I don’t want to name names, because I don’t want to spoil the market for one or two of them. For SCP, the transfer fee alone isn’t the deciding factor anyway; rather, a transfer has to make sense both financially and in sporting terms.

“We have a squad valuation that we calculate internally using a specific formula. There is a sporting value and a financial value.

“The question is: How important is the player to us, and can we actually strengthen the squad? Because only then does it really make sense to let a player go. We want to improve.

“It’s independent of any departures. We want to strengthen the squad either way. And, ideally, keep all the players—or almost all of them.

“We are no longer operating at a loss. We aim to finish the Bundesliga season with a profit, too. We are no longer dependent on transfer revenue like we were in the 2. Bundesliga. We can work with different figures.

“Our job remains to stay calm. But we are certainly noticing right now that the transfer rumour mill is starting to heat up. And that’s only going to increase. We have a long, intense period ahead of us.”

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