Celtic’s need for a new goalkeeper was brought into sharp focus for next season the minute Joe Hart announced he was retiring at the end of the season.
Joe Hart‘s contract expires at the end of the season and whilst many may have hoped that the popular veteran ‘keeper would have stayed on for another season, the 36-year-old clearly wants to go out on a high.
This has led to all sorts of speculation surrounding who could replace the treble-winning hero with Caoimhin Kelleher being one name in the frame.
Celtic learned last week that the Liverpool number two could cost them as much as £20-£30m which automatically puts the Irish international out of Brendan Rodgers‘ reach.
However, HITC reported last month that the Hoops were also watching Trabzonspor’s keeper Ugurcan Çakır with a fee in the region of £7.5m rumoured to be required to obtain the 27-year-old Turkish international.
Obviously, this is a fee Celtic could afford due to the huge financial resources the club has at its disposal but it seems that Rodgers could be wasting his time after Çakır’s latest comments regarding his boyhood club.
Ugurcan Çakır wants to stay put
Çakır has had a successful spell at Trabzonspor since making his debut in season 2016/16. In 235 appearances, he has won one league title, one Turkish Cup and two Turkish Super Cups.
His form has also earned him 26 caps for Turkey. [Transfermarkt]
But it seems that if Celtic were looking to pursue Çakır it may well prove fruitless after his latest comments about where he sees his future at the club.
Çakır said [Gunebakis via HITC], “I have been a Trabzonspor fan since my childhood, my father instilled this love in us. After spending a certain period of time in the youth structure, I was promoted to the A Team.
“I lifted 4 trophies. For me, it’s an incredible feeling to win a trophy at the club I am a fan of. I’ve always been proud of that. It’s a great and honourable feeling to be the captain of this team.
“Playing for Trabzonspor was already my dream as a child. It gives great pride to me, my family and my loved ones.”
Whilst I acknowledge that in football, money talks, Çakır sounds like a player who has no interest in moving anytime soon.
And whilst he remains captain of his boyhood heroes and continues to bring success to his club, it’s very difficult to blame him.
Ugurcan Çakır stats show he would be a good signing for Celtic
The 27-year-old’s stats this season have shown that he is one of the Turkish Super Lig’s top-performing goalkeepers.
Rated 6.8 for the season so far on Fotmob, Çakır has made 28 appearances, making nine clean sheets and conceding 36 goals.
Sitting third in the table [BBC] the ‘keeper has made 78 saves in total this season which is rated amongst the league’s best performers.
Çakır has a 67.6% save success rate and has faced four penalties this season and failed to stop any of them.
The 27-year-old has a passing accuracy of 64.3% but is one of the best in the Turkish top flight with a long-ball success rate of 277 attempts successfully finding a teammate.
Çakır has also acted as a sweeper-keeper on 16 occasions and successfully claimed 36 high balls.
The Turk certainly has most of the attributes required to be a successful Celtic goalkeeper but, unfortunately, his love for Trabzonspor may be too strong to be able to tempt him to come to the Scottish Premiership.