Three weeks since Joe Hart bid an emotional farewell to professional football at Hampden Park – the Scottish Cup trophy quite the parting gift – Celtic’s goalkeeper search goes on with no end in sight.
Patrick Pentz, one of those reportedly under consideration by the Premiership champions, removed himself from the frame when putting pen to paper on a contract with Danish giants Brondby.
Michael Zetterer, meanwhile, has signed a new deal at Werder Bremen, and is now attracting admiring glances from Manchester City at any rate. And Ugurcan Cakir will take some convincing to leave his beloved Trabzonspor.
HITC understands that Celtic’s interest in Coaimhin Kelleher is ongoing. But while the Liverpool number two would definitely be tempted by the prospect of regular first-team and sometimes Champions League football at Parkhead, Liverpool’s asking price puts a pretty substantial obstacle in Brendan Rodgers’ path.
Celtic would have to stump up a club-record fee for Kelleher. A bid of £15 million might not even be enough.
Celtic need a new goalkeeper after Joe Hart exit
Kelleher may be the dream target but, given the finances on offer in Scottish football, Celtic are no strangers to having to think outside the box and cast their net a little further in pursuit of more affordable deals.
Deals such as the one that would bring Daniel Peretz to Glasgow. According to BILD, there are clubs from all over keen on the Bayern Munich glovesman.
Celtic are taking their place in the starting blocks alongside Nottingham Forest, Villarreal, Real Betis, Copenhagen, Union Berlin and Anderlecht, in the expectation that Peretz will be loaned out by Bayern for the 2024/25 campaign.
The German giants paid an initial £4.3 million to bring Peretz to Bavaria last summer. Opportunites have been less few and far between, meanwhile, and instead almost non-existant. Peretz has only featured twice so far in all competitions, very much third choice behind Manuel Neuer and Sven Ulreich.
He looks likely to remain third in the pecking order too. Bayern confirmed a few months back that Neuer and Ulreich – both of whom were due to become free-agents in July – have signed contract extensions now 2025.
“Manuel Neuer and Sven Ulreich are simply a ‘dream team’. They support and motivate each other and live the values that characterise FC Bayern,” CEO Jan-Christian Dreesen told the club’s official website.
“Sven Ulreich stood in for Manuel Neuer more than adequately during his injury break and we know that we can rely on him. Since his comeback, Manuel Neuer has shown that he has lost none of his skills.”
Daniel Peretz may be an option for Celtic
Peretz, therefore, will probably have to look elsehwere if he is to showcase those ‘skills’ of his own. Whether Celtic would be willing to accept a short-term loan deal without an option to buy remains to be seen, however.
Peretz is reportedly viewed as Bayern’s future number one. And neither Neuer nor Ulreich are getting any younger at 38 and 35 respectively.
But with Celtic’s goalkeeper search throwing up it’s fair share of difficulties, perhaps the Peretz option is one the Premiership title holders will give extra consideration too if no breakthrough is forthcoming.
“He’s a top guy with a top mentality,” former Bayern boss Thomas Tuchel recently said of Peretz, via iMiaSanMia. “He trains brilliantly. He’s always got a smile on his face, is a good guy and his training performances are great.
“He obviously has an excellent training group around him to learn from in Manu and Ulle. We’re very happy with him.”
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