Celtic’s pursuit of a number-one goalkeeper has become the transfer story of the summer so far at Parkhead.
There still isn’t a definitive indication of who could succeed Joe Hart, who has left big gloves to fill following his excellent three-year spell at the club.
Over the past few years, Celtic have run a tight ship behind the scenes when trying to push deals over the line. The reigning Scottish Premiership champions rarely give much away while doing thorough due diligence on individuals they believe can make a marked impact in Glasgow’s east end.
Regardless, as a fan, it would be nice to see some significant movement, a notion that Chris Sutton agrees with if his latest interview is a yardstick to go by.
He explained when asked about the situation by Kris Boyd: “We both know the Glasgow climate; it’s not easy being a goalkeeper at Celtic or Rangers. First of all, you need to be a good goalkeeper, but you need to have that personality as well to handle the pressure, and I think Joe Hart did that superbly well; big character at the back, and he marshalled that defence in front of him.
“That’s a really interesting one. I always think that Celtic should do their work early in the transfer market, and they dawdled last season, so I just wonder why there is a delay at this moment in time in terms of bringing a goalkeeper in and players in.
“We saw with the Champions League last season that Celtic were getting ready for the Champions League when the tournament had begun. That goalkeeping position is going to be key for Celtic.”
There is no getting away from it; Celtic have to strengthen their options between the sticks and secure a preferred choice who will need plenty of time to gain an understanding with his defensive colleagues, hopefully laying the foundations for another successful campaign under Brendan Rodgers.
Chris Sutton on Celtic’s goalkeeper search
Speaking to Sky Sports, Sutton has cited why Celtic’s goalkeeper chase is an urgent priority this summer and has laid out his reasoning as to why that is the case, including the knock-on impact of not being able to secure signings early in the window.
He explained when asked about the situation by Kris Boyd: “We both know the Glasgow climate; it’s not easy being a goalkeeper at Celtic or Rangers. First of all, you need to be a good goalkeeper, but you need to have that personality as well to handle the pressure, and I think Joe Hart did that superbly well; big character at the back, and he marshalled that defence in front of him.
“That’s a really interesting one. I always think that Celtic should do their work early in the transfer market, and they dawdled last season, so I just wonder why there is a delay at this moment in time in terms of bringing a goalkeeper in and players in.
“We saw with the Champions League last season that Celtic were getting ready for the Champions League when the tournament had begun. That goalkeeping position is going to be key for Celtic.”
There is no getting away from it; Celtic have to strengthen their options between the sticks and secure a preferred choice who will need plenty of time to gain an understanding with his defensive colleagues, hopefully laying the foundations for another successful campaign under Brendan Rodgers.
Replenishing the experience and passion Hart brought to the table is also important. The dressing room has lost a great leader, and that shouldn’t be underestimated when deciding on the best man for the job.
Casting an eye to the next few weeks, Celtic have clear priorities in sight as they aim to make a splash in the transfer market.
The retirement of Joe Hart has not only hit the Celtic fans really hard, but it also hit his teammates as well.
The emotional scenes after the Scottish Cup final win were eclipsed by what we witnessed on Trophy Day as the Celtic fans unfurled that incredible tifo in honour of their departing hero,
Now working as a pundit, Hart has been at pains to share the incredible bond he has with the Hoops support and here, the former Celtic hero explains what his teammates did for him on Trophy Day and how it blew him away.
Hart hails ‘special’ Celtic teammate moment
The former England international is one who always wears his heart on his sleeve. Not afraid to show emotion, Hart was visibly moved by what the Celtic fans did for him.
And Hart shares the support he received from his Celtic teammates when he admits that Trophy Day got a little bit too much for him.
Hart said [The High Performance Podcast], “The atmosphere was unbelievable. And then we had a home game to celebrate winning the league, to which it was almost, it was like the kind of Joe Hart day, which made me uncomfortable.
“My teammates were unbelievable with me, like so good with me.
“And it was getting a bit much for me. And they were, and obviously I’m always gonna stand there and say thank you when people are being nice to me, you know? And they just sat back and let me be me.
“And then we had a special last day of the season with a lot of fuss made, I’m not comfortable talking about it in a positive way. Really, really nice day.
“And then we had a cup final against our greatest rivals.
“And we win in the 90th minute, 50-50 split at Hampden… what can you say?
Hart has enjoyed many special moments in front of the fans over his three seasons at the club and I don’t know about you, but I love hearing about how the players interact in the dressing room and share the bonds that they have.
It shows a real sense of cohesion and closeness between the players as they have all clearly bonded behind the scenes.
The difficulty now, of course, is finding a character of the ilk of Hart to fill that void and hopefully Brendan Rodgers is close to unveiling the man he believes can fill those huge gloves.
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