Celtic’s search for Joe Hart’s replacement hit the headlines yesterday as reports seem to suggest the club had put in a bid for Dominik Livakovic.
We discussed this afternoon how the Croatian international’s PR Manager, Stipo Dubravac, had to come out and deny the claims.
So whilst it looks like there still could be interest in the Livakovic, suggestions that negotiations over a fee are now proved to be wide of the mark.
Despite that, Croatian football expert, Richard Wilson, has given a run-down of Livakovic and compared him to former Celtic hero, Joe Hart.
Celtic told to make ‘statement signing’
The need for a new goalkeeper was accelerated by the retirement of Joe Hart and Wilson reckons that Livakovic would be a ‘bargain’ for Celtic.
Wilson said [The National], “For Celtic to land a goalkeeper of his stature would be a statement signing, absolutely.
“Fenerbahce paid the best part of €7m for him last summer, and they will make a profit on that, but if you compare Livakovic’s stature to Joe Hart’s, well, Joe Hart hasn’t been in World Cup semi-finals for instance.
“He’s one of the few goalkeepers that Celtic could get with a trophy cabinet of that size.
“It would be a bargain. This isn’t someone who Celtic may be trying to eke another couple of years out of like they did with Joe Hart.
“He’s 29, you are going to get five solid years out of him at his peak before you would even have to think about moving him on.
“Celtic have such a well-regarded goalkeeping coaching unit too, so I think they could get even further improvement out of him.”
There is little doubt that Livakovic is a quality goalkeeper. Whether or not Celtic would pay the kind of money it would take to get him remains to be seen.
At just over £5m, Livakovic would be a smart piece of business considering the amount of money Celtic wasted on the likes of Vasilis Barkas.
It’s not every day a team can boast a World Cup semi-finalist in their team. With four years left on his current deal, Fenerbache holds all the cards and it’s up to Celtic now to either stick or twist with a move for the Croatian stopper.
