Celtic are casting the eye over Croatian shot-stopper Dinko Horkas as a possible Kasper Schmeichel replacement…
The 39-year-old Danish international was forced into retirement early this year through a nasty shoulder injury that was exacerbated during out Europa League knockout stage encounter with Bundesliga side VfB Stuttgart, which brought his career to a sad conclusion.
That unfortunate news meant that Viljami Sinisalo was given the opportunity he craved so badly, having joined from Aston Villa in a £1 million move at the same time as the Premier League-winner did.
The idea at the time was most likely to see Viljami play understudy to the experienced goalkeeper for a few seasons firstly, then eventually step into that number one spot in time.
Unfortunately for Kasper Schmeichel and the club, that injury precipitated Vil’s trajectory into the Celtic goal, as he put in some assured displays last term, en-route to the Scottish Premiership and Scottish Cup Double. It’s still up for debate how Martin O’Neill sees his goalkeeper situation at present, regarding whether or not he sees Sinisalo as his number one, or he would perhaps like another challenger to possibly take over.
The club have been linked with a plethora of ‘keepers now to this effect, with Hertha Berlin’s Tjark Ernst becoming a bit of a saga in the media, as speculation is rife about the German’s future destination. It is rumoured that Ernst’s future will be decided this week, as VfL Wolfsburg are said to be in strong contention for his signature, with Feyenoord and others waiting in the wings too.
Now though, the Daily Record have reported that the Hoops are now interested in Las Palmas net-minder Horkas, with a view to making a move for the Segunda Division star. The 27-year-old has two years left on his contract and is thought to be available for around the £6 million mark.
Club President, Miguel Angel RamÃrez, has been in the news this week complaining about backdoor attempts to sign his goalkeeper.
“We haven’t received any official offers from Dinko, although we know there are interested clubs,” he said.
“But those clubs have got off to a bad start with us, because they’re negotiating with him without negotiating with us. We want to keep him at the club.
“We have managed to get Jose Antonio Caro to sign a new contract with us and we want to have two great goalkeepers at the club,” the UD Las Palmas chief stated.
Yet another one to keep an eye on folks.
Paul Gillespie
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