Liam Kelly’s ISN’T a signing target for Celtic according to a report by Stewart Fisher in The Sun.
Late on Wednesday night the Daily Mail came out with a curious story which led with Celtic’s alleged interest in the Motherwell keeper followed by the far more newsworthy story that Mark Cooper has taken up a full time recruitment job after a lengthy spell in South America followed by a move to the USA.
With Stephen McGowan breaking the story it wouldn’t be a surprise if his sources at Celtic were trying to discredit a change in recruitment direction by tagging it under an underwhelming transfer story.
Kelly might have made it into the Scotland international squad but it is harder to identify Scottish goalkeepers that aren’t in Steve Clarke’s squad than those that are.
David Marshall’s decision to retire from international football followed by a serious injury to Craig Gordon forced Scotland into converting Angus Gunn from being a former England u-21 keeper into Scotland’s first choice.
Kelly and Zander Clark were the back-ups with Clark spending four months out of football as a free agent before joining Hearts as back-up to Gordon.
Kelly is about to complete his third season at Motherwell without any serious transfer interest in him, other than being Scottish and a free agent to tick a UEFA box it is hard to justify Celtic showing interest.
Knocking the story stone dead, The Sun reports:
CELTIC WON’T be pursuing a move for Motherwell goalkeeper Liam Kelly, SunSport understands.
Eyebrows were raised overnight when it emerged that the Scotland squad man – formerly of Rangers – was on a list of summer transfer targets.
Hoops boss Brendan Rodgers has previously said that the Parkhead side could even sign TWO new goalkeepers this summer.
That’s with Joe Hart counting down the days to his retirement this summer and speculation that Benji Siegrist could follow him out the door.
It’s seen a raft of goalkeepers across Europe and beyond linked with the Hoops – including current Scotland No 1 Angus Gunn.
Siegrist and Scott Bain are both under contract until 2026 – but contrary to reports the Hoops won’t be pursuing a move for Kelly.
A first choice goalkeeper is certainly a priority due to Joe Hart retiring but beyond that the position is something of a mystery at Celtic.
There are conflicting reports about the length of Bain’s contract, this season he has made two first team appearances and been perfectly suitable back-up to Hart.
Without a league appearance in two years it is hard to see Siegrist suddenly emerging from being third choice, it is equally unlikely to imagine him giving up two more years of a lucrative contract that he signed as a free agent after an impressive season at Dundee United.
Every week Celtic will likely to be credited with interest in a variety of goalkeepers, with Robbie McCrory expected to finally leave Ibrox this summer there could be a homecoming for Kelly complete with tales of snubbing Celtic. At the age of 28 his next contract is likely to be the most important of his career.
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