Aston Villa’s young goalkeeper Viljami Sinisalo penned a new two-year contract with the club despite interest from Celtic.
That’s according to The Sunday People (01/08, p57), who claim that Celtic wanted to sign Sinisalo.
The Finn confirmed his new deal last month, meaning Celtic had to move on.
Villa are understood to have high hopes for Sinisalo and believe he can now push to compete with Jed Steer as Emi Martinez’s backup goalkeeper.
Dean Smith’s men allegedly planned to send Sinisalo out on loan after signing a new contract, but that isn’t going to happen anymore.
The Daily Star reported in June that Celtic were eyeing up a raid for Sinisalo having been impressed with him on loan at Ayr United last season.
Celtic have been in the market for a new goalkeeper with Vasilis Barkas and Scott Bain failing to impress, though Sinisalo may not have been an immediate first-choice.
The 19-year-old is still relatively inexperienced, and throwing Sinisalo into a first-choice role at Celtic would have been a major gamble.
Joe Hart looks set for Celtic instead, and Finn Sinisalo will be hoping to get his breakthrough at Villa with that new deal secured – though that will be hard with Martinez at the club.
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