Celtic may have contact with Newcastle United star's agent, pundit senses club preparing for shock exit ordeal
The Newcastle United man is reportedly a Celtic transfer target ahead of the summer.
One pundit believes that Celtic could be sussing out their break glass in case of emergency options in terms of one key star.
Kasper Schmeichel has been the number one this campaign and has proven an experience and classy replacement for Joe Hart. He is currently out with a shoulder injury but signed a new contract this year to extend his time in Hoops into next term, where he will turn 39.
Stephen McGinn, a former Premiership midfielder and current youth coach at St Mirren, has noted reports that Newcastle United goalkeeper Martin Dubravka is on the Parkhead radar ahead of this summer. Viljami Sinisalo and Scott Bain are other senior goalkeeping options on the books at Celtic right now.
Newcastle United back up plan at Celtic
While he anticipates that Schmeichel will move forward as Celtic number one, McGinn tells Go Radio that the Newcastle United man could be one they touch base with just in case their keeper hangs up his gloves. McGinn said: “I think Dubravka will be one for Celtic in terms of probably just planning for what might happen. I think across the board, they'll be saying, what if a big offer comes in for Alistair Johnston?
“What if a big offer comes in for you go through the squad? They've got a few assets. One of them might be, I mean, Kasper Schmeichel’s achieved everything he could probably ever wish to achieve in the game, financially set. He might have a decent relationship with Brendan Rodgers to the point where he'll say, I've signed this new deal.
“I'm 90% sure I'll be there next year. But you never know. Maybe say, right, just let me see how my first week or two goes with the family, where if I'm ready to go again. Because he is at that age where I'm pretty certain he'll be the Celtic goalkeeper next year. But you've got to be ready just in case he has a shock announcement. A phone call to Brendan Rodgers saying, look, I've been, thanks for everything, but that's my time up. So you just need to be ready.”
“It might have just been that they've touched base with the agent, and just say, can you keep us in mind, just what you're doing over the summer? It might be as simple as that. So it's just getting themselves ready, just in case any kind of shock decision came from Kasper Schmeichel’s camp.”
Brendan Rodgers on Schmeichel deputy
Currently, it’s Sinisalo who is deputy to Schmeichel. Rodgers told Sportsound last month: “Well obviously we've signed Vil(jami Sinisalo) because he's got a great future and great potential. Of course he was in to learn off of Kasper (Schmeichel) and invest in that time in his development.
"And of course Kasper's played most of the season but I've seen enough of Vil over the course of preseason. The game he had here even though he didn't have a lot to do, his concentration was good. And now is a chance for him to come in and you never know, any player whether it's a goalkeeper or an outfield player until they go in.
“So I'm really looking forward to seeing him play, he's showed up very well in training but of course playing in front of the stands when they're full is totally different. But he's got a great mentality and a real good goalkeeper so it's a good opportunity for him."