Offer submitted: Celtic make £6m+ bid to sign “highly rated” new player for Rodgers – report

Celtic have reportedly made an offer for their future Joe Hart replacement already as Brendan Rodgers looks to find a new no.1 for the 2024/25 season.

Joe Hart set to retire

Hart made the announcement that he would be retiring at the end of the Scottish Premiership season after a lengthy and illustrious career. With Celtic poised to win the SPL championship once more, Hart is expected to cap off his career on a high note.

In February, Hart said, “I wanted to spread the word that I’m going to quit playing football as of June.””I’ve been thinking about this for a while; is there ever a right or bad moment? “There is undoubtedly a discussion about the goalkeeping position for the upcoming campaign, and I believe it’s critical that, with the club’s approval, we spread the word and eliminate one item from the subject of conjecture.

“I truly believe I am at my best, and I have taken every step to prepare myself to give it my all on game day. However, I know that time waits for no man, and I don’t want my body to be saying goodbye to me. One of the main things was believing I could cross the finish line quickly.” At Celtic Park, his retirement will undoubtedly leave huge shoes (and gloves) to fill, but it appears that Rodgers already has a replacement in mind.

Celtic make £6m+ offer for goalkeeper

That comes in the shape of Trabzonspor goalkeeper Ugurcan Cakir, who has been a long-term target for Celtic.

“It is one of those things where Leeds have just got to keep pursuing, we’ve got to keep going for these deals with someone like Ugurcan, highly rated, seen as one of the top ‘keepers in Turkey, one of the top ‘keepers in Europe, it’s definitely one to keep an eye on.”

It had been thought that Celtic were readying a £7.5m bid for the Turkish shot-stopper, but now a report from Turkey, relayed by Sports View claims that they have made an offer of around £6.4m for his services.

Perhaps confusingly, this equates to around €7.5m euros, which could be where the initial fee came from, or it could be that Celtic are looking for a discount with Alex McCarthy also being monitored ahead of him becoming a free agent this summer.

For his part, Cakir is “looking for fresh challenges in his career”, and could jump at the prospect of playing Champions League football with Celtic next season should the two sides be able to agree a fee.

Meanwhile, Trabzonspor president Ertugrul Dogan has already accepted Cakir’s departure, explaining that “We made a promise to Uğurcan. If an offer comes from Europe, we will facilitate it.”

Could the 28-year-old be the man to follow Hart in goal for Celtic?