Kelle Roos has been mentioned as a potential replacement for Joe Hart at the Scottish Premiership champions but former Celtic defender Mark Wilson feels Brendan Rodgers’ side will look elsewhere.
When 37-year-old Joe Hart announced his intention to hang up his boots – or should that be gloves? – at the end of the current campaign, a new goalkeeper suddenly became Celtic’s top priority ahead of the summer transfer window.
It’s fair to say The Hoops’ record when it comes to bringing shot-stoppers to Glasgow, however, is patchy at best. Hart has been a rare success story. In contrast to Scott Bain, Benjamin Siegrist, Vasilis Barkas and Dorus de Vries, the signing of the former England international has been nothing short of a masterstroke.
So where does an already under-fire recruitment department turn once Hart rides off into the Celtic sunset?
Celtic goalkeeper Joe Hart is retiring
“It’s a hard one to get. If Celtic’s recruitment department thought they were under pressure with left-backs, strikers and midfielders, they’ve probably got the biggest of them all,” Mark Wilson, a three-time Premiership winner, tells Clyde SuperScoreboard.
“Because goalkeeper just sets the tone for your team. If you’ve not got a solid goalkeeper behind your back four, then the rest falls down.
“You go back to the Covid season Celtic were changing goalies every other week because you couldn’t trust any of them.”
When it was put to him that Celtic could look close to home for a new number one – Kelle Roos impressing at Aberdeen – Wilson cast some doubt on the idea, suggesting that Brendan Rodgers and co will look elsewhere.
Aberdeen star Kelle Roos mentioned
“I’m not so sure Celtic will go down that (Roos) route,” Wilson adds.
Roos, a 6ft 5ins Dutchman who joined The Dons from Derby County in 2022, has been described as ‘the best goalkeeper in the league’, not only by former Aberdeen boss Barry Robson but also by Liam Scales.
Celtic’s left-sided centre-half played alongside Roos at Pittodrie during a loan spell in the north last term.
The Glasgow giants have been linked with Real Madrid’s Andriy Lunin. The £11 million Ukrainian may have moved out of Rodgers’ reach, however, with a series of stellar Champions League displays.
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