After defeating St. Johnstone 3-1 at Parkhead on Saturday, Celtic leads the Scottish Premiership standings going into the international break.
With one more game played than the side in second place, the Hoops finished the weekend one point ahead of their opponent Rangers, whose match against Dundee was postponed on Sunday owing to a flooded pitch.
The Hoops are still in the running for the Premiership title and will face Aberdeen in the SFA Cup semifinals last month, so they still have a chance to win two trophies before the season ends.
In the first half of the season, Kilmarnock eliminated them from the League Cup and eliminated them from Europe in the Champions League group stages.
In order to perform better in all tournaments and in Europe the next season, the Scottish powerhouses may look to make changes to their playing roster. One position in particular will require consideration because Joe Hart is scheduled to retire.
Brendan Rodgers may have already identified the ideal substitute for the former England international, but Celtic will still need to find a goalkeeper to replace him.
Before the summer transfer window opens, the Hoops have identified RKC Waalwijk goalkeeper Etienne Vaessen as a target, according to Dutch newspaper Algemeen Dagblad (17/03/2024) via SoccerNews.
According to the source, the Glasgow-based team has already made an offer to recruit the gifted goalie in order to improve their roster.
Because of his upcoming contract expiration with Waalwijk at the end of the current campaign, Celtic has the opportunity to extend an offer to him for a pre-contract agreement.
Celtic has the chance to make him an offer for a pre-contract deal because Waalwijk’s contract is set to expire at the end of the current campaign.
The experienced goalie has not been “unmoved” by the interest from either team, according to Algemeen Dagblad, who also claims that PSV, one of the biggest clubs in the Netherlands, is interested in making a bid to recruit him in the summer. This might mean that he will decide to transfer to Scotland or across the country.
If Celtic prevails in the competition to acquire him, they will have secured Hart’s ideal successor in goal, since the enormous Dutchman has been playing at a very high level and may even prove to be an improvement over the seasoned Englishman.
In his 29 Premiership games so far this season for the Scottish powerhouses, the 36-year-old titan—who turns 37 next month—has ten clean sheets to his name.
Following his summer 2021 transfer from Tottenham Hotspur, Celtic won the league title in each of his first two seasons there. Before he retires later this year, he will be aiming for a flawless triple.
Compared to his 2022–2023 league results under Ange Postecoglou, Hart’s performances this season have improved, indicating that he may be retiring this summer on a positive note.
Hart did, however, fall short of expectations with his lackluster performances in the Champions League, giving up 1.7 more goals than predicted based on the post-shot xG value of the opposition’s efforts in six games; this was also the case in the 2022–2023 campaign.
Over the course of the last three seasons, the former Manchester City player has allowed in 6.5 goals more than he should have in 19 European matches for Celtic. This indicates that the goalkeeper had difficulty with the level of finishes in Europe.
The reasons why Etienne Vaessen might be a dream Joe Hart’s substitute
Now that Vaessen has been in incredible form this season, the Hoops have the chance to grab the Dutch giant this summer if they can defeat PSV to sign him. Vaessen would be a superb replacement for Hart.
The Celtic target has drawn attention despite his team’s relegation struggle, recording 4.0 saves per game and a 7.31 Sofascore rating in 22 Eredivisie outings.
The xG of the shots that have been against him this season indicates that he has saved an incredible 4.67 more goals than expected, indicating that the 28-year-old star has made consistently excellent saves against excellent efforts.
Vaessen is a player who can regularly step outside of his line to clear the ball from danger or to gather a cross and stop the opposition from scoring.
Hart, on the other hand, is among the goalkeepers in the worst 1% in the Champions League this season in terms of defensive actions taken outside the penalty area per ninety minutes and the proportion of crosses into the box that are stopped.
Based on these figures, it appears that the Dutch player, eight years younger than the former England international, would be a huge improvement over the current Celtic number one if he can carry over his form to Glasgow.
With this offer to sign Vaessen at the conclusion of the season, Rodgers may have already identified his ideal Hart replacement. Vaessen must now decide his future, and that decision rests with him.
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