A report from Turkey has provided very detailed information on Celtic’s interest in signing goalkeeper Ugurcan Cak?r.
The 28-year-old is two years into a five year contract with Trabzonspor with a profile that suggests he has the experience and ability to succeed Joe Hart.
In February the former England keeper announced that he will be retiring at the end of the season with no suggestion that Scott Bain or Ben Siegrist are about to step out of the shadows to become Celtic’s first choice keeper.
Siegrist hasn’t played an SPFL match since joining Celtic in the summer of 2022, Bain has played in three matches since Hart was signed and seems very content with his role as back-up.
Reports from Turkey are often dismissed as speculative but there is a lot more detail in the report on Cakir that keeping tabs or expressing an interest.
Taka Gazate reports:
While the Trabzonspor management was working intensively on the structuring of the team for the next season, Celtic’s transfer offer for Ugurcan Cak?r came at an unexpected time. In the e-mail signed by Club CEO Nicholson, it was requested to initiate official transfer negotiations for Ugurcan Cak?r.
In this context, permission was requested from Trabzonspor club to invite Ugurcan’s manager and lawyer to Glasgow for transfer negotiations. In addition, the necessary permissions were requested for Celtic Coach Brendan Rodgers to have a Zoom meeting with Ugurcan.
In the petition for transfer permission, it was noteworthy that the expressions “Turkish National Team goalkeeper” were used for Ugurcan Cak?r and “respected football club” for Trabzonspor. This emphasizes how valuable Ugurcan and his club are in the international arena.
It is said that the transfer offer that the Celtic club will make to Trabzonspor if they convince Ugurcan Cak?r is around 7.5 million pounds. However, it remains unclear whether this figure will be finalized.
Cakir’s name has popped up a few times since the turn of the year with very little in the way of other suggestions to take over from Hart.
With pre-season friendlies in the USA announced for mid-July Celtic will be hoping to get a deal completed soon after the window opens rather than waiting to see what options are available during August as the transfer frenzy counts down to Deadline Day.
CLICK HERE for Cakir’s Transfermarkt profile.
— moppy (@moppy71) April 6, 2024