Why A Swiss International Could Be Celtic’s First Signing On Friday.

The news today that Benjamin Siegrist is linked with our club will not have come as a surprise to even the most distant observer of Scottish football news. With the decision, yesterday, by the club to allow Barkas to go out on loan – not unexpected either, of course – there is now a vacancy. I don’t think the manager rates Bain that highly.

A new keeper is a must.

The question I’ve posed here before is this; will Siegrist come here merely to sit on the bench? You would think not. You would hope not. But realistically, will he have the talent to supplant Joe Hart as our number one keeper?

If the Man With The Plan thinks he is then we will all get behind that, obviously.

The other question is where Siegrist would fall on the list of signings should we go for him?

I think we’d bring him in first if he’s really on the target list.

The reason is simple; this will be the easiest deal to get over the line, unless all the graft on the rest of them has been done already.

He plays here in Scotland, he’s been linked with us several times before. He is a known quality and with Barkas just out the door it makes sense that the replacement is already lined up and ready to go.

Don’t be surprised if you wake up on Friday morning to read that this one is a done deal.

He’s available right now, for free, and the club has looked at him as an option in the past. It remains speculation at the moment – paper talk, in fact – but there is definitely something in our previous interest and that’s why this could be the first deal.

We’re not going to go out and spend money for a backup keeper; that’s just mad.

Because Hart is almost certainly the guy the manager wants as our number one in the coming season, so someone available now, available free and about whom we have few doubts … that’s perfect, and that’s why this one has a good chance of coming off, and coming off first.