Celtic fans will all have heard by now that Joe Hart is into his final months at Parkhead after deciding to retire from football at the end of the season.
The 36-year-old has enjoyed an incredibly illustrious career and will finish up at the Bhoys with the hope of going out in style, given there is a domestic double still to play for.
Brendan Rodgers has given Hart the ultimate compliment in his immediate reaction to the news, indicating that the former England international will be missed by not just Celtic fans but the wider footballing public.
He stated: “Joe has enjoyed a phenomenal career and I know will be huge miss to the game when he finally retires from playing football in the summer.”
Over his time at Parkhead, the Shrewsbury-born stopped has won five trophies, with two Scottish Premiership titles under his belt.
His leadership and commitment to the club has to be applauded, especially given that he has been living north of the border for nearly three years without his family.
Congratulations to Hart on an elite career, where we can hopefully give him the perfect send-off before he moves on to new pastures in his life.
Joe Hart explains to leave Celtic and retire from football
Speaking about his decision to retire, Hart has revealed that he had already held extensive discussions with Rodgers and Stevie Woods before coming to a final stance on the matter.
In a dignified fashion, he has sought to get this information into the public eye for the benefit of the club moving forward.
Hart stated: “We’re here because I want to get the message out that as of June, I’m going to stop playing professional football.
“This is something that I’ve thought about for a while. There’s no right or wrong time, is there? But the way this club works, there’s so much heart and soul poured into what we’re doing as a football club.
“But with the grand scheme of the club and the support base, and the conversations that go on around, there’s obviously a conversation around the goalkeeping position for next season.
“So I just think it was really important that with the blessing of the club… I’ve had the conversations with the club Brendan and Stevie Woods that we get the message out and it takes one thing off the table that people need to speculate over.
“I’m definitely not going to be there next season. I wanted to take that off the table, so we can talk about why and then push forward.”
He later added: “I feel like my game is in a really good place at the moment. I’ve gone down every avenue I can to keep myself in the best possible shape and position come game day and right now I’m at that.
“I really do feel like come gameday, I really do peak. But I’m aware that time waits for no man and I don’t want my body to be retiring me. So that was one of the key factors, thinking that I can smash through the finishing line.
Hart has been in excellent form over the last few weeks and let’s hope he can have his fairytale ending before hanging up his gloves.
