After Celtic goalkeeper Joe Hart announced that he’d be retiring at the end of the current season, Brendan Rodgers is searching for a new number one ahead of the 2024/25 campaign.
According to recent reports, the Hoops “would love” to sign Caoimhin Kelleher from Liverpool, who just kept a clean sheet in the Carabao Cup final success over Chelsea, but there are obstacles in the way of a deal.
The first of those is the “big-money fee” Liverpool are likely to demand for the Irishman, one that his Carabao Cup final performance may only inflate, and another is the interest from teams in the Premier League. Kelleher may prefer to stay in England if he can, rather than make the move up north to the Scottish Premiership.
With that in mind, it’s wise for Rodgers and the Hoops to start looking at some alternatives, just in case a deal for their primary option doesn’t come off, and one potential Plan-B has now emerged.
Celtic laying groundwork for Cakir move
According to Turkish outlet Gunebakis, relayed by Sport Witness, Celtic are interested in Ugurcan Cakir at Trabzonspor. Rodgers has Scott Bain and Benjamin Siegrist at his disposal but he wants to “reinforce” between the sticks with a bigger name.
Celtic have been carrying out a “comprehensive” search for options across the world, and Cakir has earned a place on their shortlist. They value his consistency and his national team career – he’s been capped 26 times by Turkey – and they’re also aware that “giant clubs” have previously taken notice.
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Celtic made two signings but didn’t address another priority.
They could “knock on the door” of the Super Lig club over a potential deal at the end of the season, but they know it won’t be easy to reach an agreement because Trabzonspor regard Cakir as “the apple of their eye”. Celtic are already working to understand how much they will have to pay to sign the club captain.
Cakir is one of the best ‘keepers in Turkey
Cakir, who’s been called “highly-rated” by Conor McGilligan back in 2020, has been with Trabzonspor since 2011, amassing more than 230 senior appearances with the club – 29 of those have come this season – with the 27-year-old keeping nine clean sheets for the Europa League chasers.
He’s finished either first or second for shutouts in the past three seasons and will hope to make a late run up the leaderboard before the current campaign is out. Trabzonspor are currently the ‘best of the rest’ in Turkey behind title contenders Galatasaray and Fenerbahce, who have a 24-point advantage over the rest of the division.
Turkish Super Lig – most clean sheets 23/24 | |||
|---|---|---|---|
Rank | Player | Club | CS |
1 | Fernando Muslera | Galatasaray | 13 |
=2 | Mert Gunok | Besiktas | 10 |
=2 | Dominik Livakovic | Fenerbahce | 10 |
=4 | Trabzonspor | 9 | |
=4 | Gokhan Akkan | Caykur Rizespor | 9 |
6 | Volkan Babacan | Istanbul Basaksehir | 8 |
=7 | Erce Kardesler | Hatayspor | 7 |
=7 | Bilal Bayazit | Kayserispor | 7 |
=9 | Ertac Ozbir | Adana Demirspor | 6 |
=9 | Bahadir Gungordu | MKE Ankaragücü | 6 |
Cakir played every minute for Turkey at the last European Championships and will hope to be the number one for this year’s tournament too, as the Crescent-Stars, in a group with Portugal and the Czech Republic, try to make amends for their group-stage exit in 2021.
