Breaking News:Celtic signing and is delighted by ‘outstanding’ £3m man
Talk about having big boots to fill. Though, fortunately, Celtic have had plenty of practice when it comes to replacing star men.
When Jota departed last summer – a £25 million move to Saudi Arabia making the winger the most expensive export in Celtic’s history – in came Luis Palma. When Josip Juranovic was sold to Union Berlin, The Hoops snapped up Alistair Johnston.
Out went Edsonne Edouard, in came Kyogo Furuhashi. Out went Ryan Christie, in came Matt O’Riley, albeit a few months later.
So while Celtic took their sweet time bringing a new goalkeeper to Parkhead, a fine debut performance from Kasper Schmeichel during the 4-3 friendly win over Manchester City in the USA went some way to helping Brendan Rodgers’ champions move out of the shadow of the recently-retired Joe Hart.
Snapped up on a free transfer after leaving Belgian giants Anderlecht, 37-year-old Schmeichel is back in Britain.
And while the veteran Dane may no longer be the same world-class shot-stopper who helped guide Leicester City to Premier League and FA Cup glory, if he can emulate the similarly experienced Hart, Schmeichel will soon come to represent another outstanding piece of business.
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Celtic sign Kasper Schmeichel to replace Joe Hart
“They’ve made good moves in the goalkeeper department,” former Celtic hero Chris Sutton tells the Daily Record, Schmeichel joined by the £1 million acquisition of an ‘outstanding’ Viljami Sinisalo from Aston Villa.
“Both got some game time in the US and did well. Even in just 45 minutes against Manchester City, you could see Schmeichel is still top class with two superb saves to keep out Erling Haaland.
“Sinasalo made a couple of his own in the second period, so that is not position they need to worry about any time soon.”
For Sutton, however, ‘it is a different story’ in a few other positions.
He feels that Celtic are still crying out for additions at left-back, at centre-half, in midfield and also arguably on the wing.
The Glasgow giants are also hoping to agree a deal that would see last season’s loan star Adam Idah return north of the border. HITC understands that Celtic saw an opening bid of £4 million rejected with Norwich City demanding around double that fee.
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