Ahead of the summer, Celtic have decisions to make on a number of players coming to the end of their contracts.
Rodgers is apparently happy to keep Hart between the sticks for the remainder of the current campaign, but he’s “eager” to replace him straight away, with the position marked out as the “top priority” for the off-season.
According to Football Insider, Celtic will replace Hart as their first-choice goalkeeper ahead of next season. The Scottish Premiership leaders are “actively seeking” a new number one in their preparations for the summer transfer window.
It’s slightly surprising that Hart’s exit is already considered an inevitability given the extent of his involvement this season. He’s played 29 games so far, starting all but one match across all competitions – he was suspended for the league game against Mother well at the end of September after picking up a red card versus Livingston.
There hasn’t even been rotation for the cup games, with Hart donning the armband against Highland League side Buckie Thistle last weekend, but that would appear to reflect Rodgers’ doubts about the strength of his backup options rather than any overwhelming confidence in Hart. indeed, while he’s kept 11 clean sheets this term, he struggled in the group stages of the Champions League. Celtic conceded a joint-competition high of 15 goals, and while that isn’t automatically a knock on the ‘keeper – sometimes there’s nothing they can do – Hart only faced a post-shot xG total of 13.3, which gave him the fifth-poorest shot-stopping record in the tournament. Rodgers will want somebody who can truly hold their own against the toughest opponents.
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