Joe Hart has been speaking about the possibility of Celtic signing a new goalkeeper this summer.
The goalkeeping position has been much talked about amongst the Hoops support during this transfer window. A healthy percentage of the Celtic fanbase feel that it’s an area the club should be looking to upgrade.
That looks unlikely at this stage, with injuries and transfer departures meaning some other positions are in far greater need of support.
Yet Hart‘s form has still been a big talking point, all the way from the first televised friendly against Yokohama F. Marinos in Japan.
The Englishman has been an important contributor over the past two seasons, both on and off the pitch. He showed his experience once again when asked about the possibility of another keeper coming on board.
“The club wants to improve all the time,” he told The Scotsman. “If the club feels it needs strength in every department then of course that’s going to happen.
“That’s the thing when you’re at clubs like this and involved in competitions like we are. I’ve been in clubs before where goalies have come in. Of course, we welcome and embrace, we’re a 25 or 26-man squad.
“However this transfer window plays out, we’ll see. We’ll look to win as many games as we can and move forward.”
While Hart will always want to play first-team games, it is hard to imagine him being anything other than supportive if the club did move for another player in his position.
His relationship with the likes of Scott Bain, Ben Siegrist and Tobi Oluwayemi has been strong in recent times — judging from some supportive posts on social media at least.
For all of the fan chat about goalkeepers, it is only really Dominik Livakovic who has actually been linked with the club this summer. Even then, he finally completed his move to Fenerbahce on Friday.
The extreme likelihood, from where we’re sat, is that Hart continues as Celtic’s number one this season. With his three-year deal up at the end of the campaign, that seems like a natural time to part ways.
The goalkeeper will be 37 at that stage and could still have a couple of years left in the USA, Saudi Arabia or elsewhere. It seems unlikely that he would sign an extension to stay in Glasgow.
That seems to be the way things are heading anyway. This season is now about how much Hart can still offer us both domestically and in Europe. Let’s hope the answer to that is positive.
In other news, Brendan Rodgers has his say on controversial Rugby Park incident
Receive a digest of our best Celtic content each week direct to your mailbox
