Who could Celtic sign to replace Joe Hart?

Joe Hart announced earlier today that he will be calling an end to his playing career at the end of this season. There had been some speculation surrounding his future as his contract was set to expire in June and there weren’t any concrete rumours or reports suggesting he was nearing an extension, but we now know Celtic will be looking for a new goalkeeper in the summer.

Both Benjamin Siegrist and Scott Bain have been waiting in the wings but neither are of the quality that Celtic really need in a new goalkeeper.

It is one of the most important positions on the park, and given that Hart had been Celtic’s number one for 3 seasons, getting this signing right is of paramount importance for the club.

Celtic had reportedly been searching for a new goalkeeper for a while now, with reports in the summer suggesting that it was one a few positions that Celtic were eager to add to.

You would also have to imagine that Celtic would have been aware of Hart’s announcement for a decent length of time, and efforts to find a new number one should be heating up heading into the summer.

Given the aforementioned search for a new goalkeeper, could any of the previously linked names be on their way to the club in the summer.

Andriy Lunin – Real Madrid
Real Madrid’s Ukrainian goalkeeper Andriy Lunin has been linked with a move to Glasgow since the beginning of last summer. A lack of game time for the Galacticos since signing from Zorya Luhansk, only playing 22 games for them since 2018.

However, a recent injury to regular start Thibaut Courtois has seen the Ukrainian see far more game time than he may have initially expected, and a standout performance against RB Leipzig where he made 9 saves to keep Real Madrid in the game may have secured his future at the club for a few more years, that is unless the return of Courtois sees Lunin’s game-time greatly reduced once again.

Caoimhin Kelleher – Liverpool
The Irishman had previously been identified as one of Brendan Rodgers’ top targets in the summer. Liverpool’s current start is Brazilian keeper Alisson, who many would argue is the best goalkeeper on the planet at the moment, so displacing the former Roma stopper would be a titanic task for the 25-year-old.

Celtic could be looking to grab the keeper on a loan deal with an option-to-buy, a deal that has provided plenty of positive examples for the club in recent years, but interest from other Premier League clubs as well as a transfer fee the could be out of Celtic’s realm of possibilities could rule the Parkhead club out of a deal.

However, it is a deal that Brendan Rodgers has been reportedly very keen to get done over the last few months, and murmurs of discontent from the manager with the club’s transfer activity over the last two transfer windows could spark a reaction from the club’s higher-ups to make an exception to bring in Rodgers’ man.

James McKenzie // @JamesWHMcKenzie