Celtic supporters are going to hear a fair bit about the signing of a new goalkeeper between now and next summer.
Current Celtic number one Joe Hart is out of contract at the end of this season. While his future is yet to be decided, and may not be for some time yet, it does seem like the club are keen to push on with a potential replacement.
Over the summer, there was plenty of talk about Croatian international Dominik Livakovic before he joined Fenerbahce. Liverpool’s Caoimhin Kelleher was also mentioned as a Hoops target and may be a name to keep an eye on in the future.
Late on Monday, the Daily Record threw a new name into the mix in the shape of Real Madrid’s Andriy Lunin. They say that we are “considering a move” for the Ukrainian international.
Lunin is not a first choice for club or country at present. He did play a couple of matches for Madrid at the start of the season following Thibaut Courtois’s ACL injury. However, they then went and signed Kepa Arrizabalaga, demoting Lunin back to the bench.
While this is the kind of report likely to get many of you excited, the most interesting part for me was the mention of Lunin being just “one of several shot-stoppers that the Hoops’ scouting team are watching and doing ongoing analysis on.”
It is said that we had an interest in him during the summer, but it seems like we have an eye on a number of keepers as well.
The report also says that we will be “on the lookout for a new first choice [goalkeeper] in the summer, if not before.” While that may just be a throwaway line, it is interesting to ponder the possibility of Celtic bringing in that new guy in January.
Lunin and Kelleher are both seeing little or no game time at present so it would surely make not a great deal of difference if they were signed in January or the summer, from the selling club’s point of view.
Even if Hart remains as our keeper until the end of the season, and not many are likely to have a major issue with that, it would still be great to get his successor bedded in nice and early. It’s certainly a possibility that exists.
There’s a fair amount to happen between now and any resolution of our long-term goalkeeping question. But this is a start.
In other news, Tottenham’s Dejan Kulusevski applauds Celtic star after he impresses on international duty
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