A report in Football Scotland has claimed that signing a new goalkeeper is one of Brendan Rodgers transfer priorities.
Joe Hart has been first choice since arriving from Spurs two years ago with little serious competition from Scott Bain or Ben Siegrist.
When Rodgers arrived at Celtic in 2016 Craig Gordon was the first choice keeper but the new boss signed Dorus de Vries with a glowing endorsement about his ability to play the ball with his feet.
The Dutchman failed to recapture his Swansea, after a month out of favour Gordon returned to the team although when Rodgers left in February 2019 Scott Bain had been first pick since returning from the winter break.
Tonight in Football Scotland, Mark Hendry claims:
Football Scotland understands the Hoops’ recruitment meetings have shown up the goalkeeping position as one area in particular the club are hoping to add to in the coming weeks.
With Conor Hazard reportedly on the verge of a move to Plymouth for a six-figure sum, that’s one keeper down. Joe Hart has been the number one for the past two years while Scott Bain and Ben Siegrist are well behind the Englishman in the pecking order.
Hart, though, is 36 and won’t be starring for the club forever and Rodgers and his staff want serious competition for him and a keeper in the door who can play out from the back with the ball at his feet.
That could be any speculative article geared at clicks but Hendry clearly has decent contacts inside Celtic, on June 24 last year in Football Scotland he revealed:
Celtic are closing in on Alexandro Bernabei of Lanus. The left-back, 21, has been the subject of interest from Hoops scouts for a while and the club are hoping to sort a deal.
Ange Postecoglou has been looking for a defender to rival Greg Taylor on the left-hand side. Celts were rumoured to be monitoring his teammate Julian Aude but Football Scotland can exclusively reveal it’s Bernabei who interesting the Scottish champions.
Since breaking that story, of Celtic’s first ever Argentinian signing Hendry has been a reporter carrying some clout.
The goalkeeping position at Celtic appears less secure than other positions on the park. A year ago Siegrist looked like he could genuinely challenge Hart but that hasn’t materialised.
Finding a high quality back-up looks to be a near impossible task, if a goalkeeper is signed it looks more likely to be a first choice with Hart becoming the trusted back up in the final year of his Celtic contract.
🆕🚨 Celtic transfer priority position revealed as Brendan Rodgers plots summer moves | @mhendry92
📎 https://t.co/Pm09aelaSN pic.twitter.com/UCAVy1LmmG
— Football Scotland ⚽️🏴 (@Football_Scot) July 6, 2023
