Saturday’s Scottish Cup Final between Celtic and Rangers will be Joe Hart’s last as a professional footballer, calling time on a trophy-laden career that saw him compete at the highest level.
There’ll no doubt be a few dabbing their eyes at an emotional Hampden, win or lose, as Hart waves goodbye to a club and set of supporters he absolutely adores.
Celtic are already planning for a successor. They have been linked with multiple shot-stoppers at home and abroad in recent months including Arijanet Muric and Ugurcan Cakir.
It will be far from easy to replace Hart’s presence and personality after over 150 appearances, resulting in him becoming a cult hero with fans.
It seems that he won’t be the only goalkeeper departing Celtic Park at the end of the season either.
Celtic on the hunt for two new goalies
Football Scotland now reports that the Bhoys will actually be looking to recruit two goalkeepers during the upcoming transfer window, with Benjamin Siegrist also destined to leave the champions.
Celtic will be sourcing an outright Hart replacement and a back-up to work alongside Scott Bain. The report states that the club plans to sign up an older, cheaper goalie as one of the two arrivals if the scouting team offers such an option.
That would make sense considering whoever becomes number one is likely to play almost all of the club’s games next season barring injury. Bain, for example, only made 3 appearances this term and one of them was to be substituted on as part of Hart’s Celtic Park farewell. That role doesn’t require massive resources.
However, the Bhoys must find a quality option to step in for Hart, regardless of their profile – even if it costs a pretty penny.
Ideally, his successor will arrive early in the summer, too, giving the new option time to acclimatise with his defensive line.
We know all too well how destabilising it can be to bring in a goalkeeper who can’t cut it at Celtic – just ask Vasilis Barkas. This is a transfer that the club can’t afford to get wrong and could be the most important bit of business done all summer.