Ben Siegrist is reported as a summer transfer target for Aberdeen.
Despite four impressive seasons at Dundee United that earned the ‘keeper a move to Celtic in the summer of 2022 his career has failed to kick on in Glasgow.
So far Siegrist has made just two League Cup appearances for Celtic, this season he has been on the bench once and was left out of the Champions League squad.
Those disappointments will be buffered by a contract that runs until May 2026, despite being third choice at Celtic it is unlikely that any player outside of Glasgow is being paid more than Siegrist.
Having turned 32 at the end of January a summer move might be Siegrist’s last chance to pick up on his career but previous examples suggest that very few players take a serious pay cut to get back into regular first team action.
Discussing Celtic’s third choice goalkeeper the Daily Record reports:
Aberdeen are considering a summer move for Celtic keeper Benjy Siegrist.
The Dons No. 1 Kelle Roos is out of contract at the end of the season and has still to commit to a new deal.
The Pittodrie recruitment team is covering all bases and looking at alternative options should Roos decide to move on and Record Sport understands Celtic keeper Siegrist is on a shortlist of potential summer options.
The Aberdeen board are looking for a long-term manager whilst an on-going external review of the running of the Pittodrie club is being carried out. Neil Warnock has been put in interim charge for the season but director of football Steven Gunn and his new head of recruitment Chris Badlan are both continuing work on player options and targets.
Aberdeen also have Ross Doohan, who made his debut in the Scottish Cup win over Bonnyrigg Rose, but will want to run with another experienced keeper if Roos moves on.
Celtic currently have James McCarthy on the payroll, 16 months on from his last first team appearance but under contract until May 2025.
McCarthy joined Celtic as a free agent, signing a four year contract which is the same situation that Siegrist is in.
Despite Joe Hart retiring at the end of this season there has been no serious discussion of either Siegrist or Scott Bain being upgraded to first choice next season.
Some sort of clear out was expected at Celtic in January but only David Turnbull and Yosuke Ideguchi moved out on a permanent basis, highlighting the issue of players content to sit on contracts rather than move on looking for game time.
At the age of 32 Siegrist should be at his peek goalkeeping years but it looks like some heavy negotiating will be required in terms of wages for a move to appeal.
Despite the situations involving McCarthy and Siegrist Celtic still prefer signing players on long term deals with January arrival Nicholas Kuhn signing up onto a five and a half year contract.
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