Celtic legend Chris Sutton has delivered a negative opinion about the club’s potential chase of former Manchester City goalkeeper Joe Hart.
Sutton was recently a guest on the latest episode of the Record Celtic podcast and the panel was talking about many things surrounding the Glasgow-based side. One thing Sutton chose to focus on was if the club should pursue the signature of Hart this summer.
It was recently reported by the Daily Record that Hart would be at the top of the Hoops’ shortlist for goalkeepers, if they fail to sign Fraser Forster this summer. With STV reporting that Forster will not join Celtic, it seems like the chase of Hart could become a prime objective for the Bhoys.
When talking about Hart, Sutton went onto express a negative opinion and revealed that Hart isn’t the goalkeeper that he once was. He said: “Why would Celtic want to spend big wages on Joe Hart? He isn’t the ‘keeper which he was. I think he’s 33 years old. He could come up and resurrect his career.
“Celtic cannot afford this season to take a gamble and that would be a gamble to sign Joe Hart, looking at the form which he’s been in, in the last few years.”
Would signing Joe Hart be a bad deal for Celtic?
Yes, it'll be poor business
No, we need to sign him!
“It hasn’t been good enough. Celtic cannot afford slip-ups. That is why they need to get the deal done with Fraser Forster because last season, he was immense. You know what you’re going to get with Fraser Forster.
“These two goalkeepers at this period of their careers in the here and now, Fraser Forster is streets ahead of Joe Hart and that is the truth. Celtic should not touch Joe Hart.”
Clearly, Sutton is very much against Celtic going after the former Burnley goalkeeper and feels that he is now past his best, making Forster a better option for the Hoops at this point.
TIF Thoughts…
Hart was most recently at Burnley and he had joined the club in the summer of 2018 after he had a loan spell at West Ham during his time at Manchester City. But currently, he’s without a club (via Transfermarkt).
The fact that he’s a free agent would be a pretty attractive thing for Celtic, but Hart couldn’t make a single Premier League appearance for Burnley in the 2019/20 campaign (via Transfermarkt).
So what Sutton says might be true and Hart might really not be the goalkeeper that he once was. But with the Forster deal now not happening either, the goalkeeper situation has become a real dilemma for Celtic as Craig Gordon has left the club as well. The club might have to find some new targets for that position.