Over the course of Celtic’s history, many of the club’s best goalkeepers have been from Britain or Ireland.

From the early heroics of John Thomson in the 1920s and 1930s to the modern-day brilliance of Fraser Forster, many of Celtic’s best shot-stoppers have been scouted in leagues which are easily accessible. Indeed, Ronnie Simpson – who was voted by supporters as Celtic’s greatest-ever goalkeeper in 2004 – was a Glasgow native who helped his hometown team win the 1967 European Cup in Lisbon.

Perhaps because of this weighted history towards goalkeepers close to home, the club tends to shop in familiar markets for this position. There have been exceptions to this trend, however, such as cult hero Artur Boruc. One of the most infamous names in the list of foreign goalkeepers to have played for the club recently is Vasilis Barkas, who recently terminated his contract with Celtic after three years.

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The Greece international was a big-money move for the Hoops at the time, costing the club £5 million from AEK Athens following the departure of Forster from his loan spell at the club. There had been talk of the English goalkeeper potentially returning to the club, but this never transpired, meaning a replacement was needed between the sticks, especially with Craig Gordon also departing the club.

The landscape at Celtic back then was very different to where the club is now. Yes, the expectation was to win, but the overshadowing presence of the side’s 10-in-a-row bid that season seemed to engulf the entirety of Scottish football. Not an ideal situation for a new goalkeeper to be stepping into.

This, coupled with the fact that society was in the middle of a worldwide pandemic, was a terrible combination for any player to negotiate, especially one who had not yet played outside of his native Greece. Known for being a capable goalkeeper with the ball at his feet, Barkas had impressed when Celtic and AEK Athens had played two seasons prior, with his side knocking his future employers out of Champions League qualifying in the process.

There are no two ways about it: Barkas was an absolutely disastrous signing for Celtic. Terrible positioning, poor shot-stopping and a lack of general presence in his own box were just some of the problems the expensive goalkeeper brought to the team.

Because of this misstep in recruitment, Celtic alternated between Barkas, Scott Bain and Conor Hazard over the course of that season. This shuffling of the pack effectively ended Barkas’ chances of being the first-choice goalkeeper, and Ange Postecoglou used him very sparingly following his appointment as Celtic manager, shipping him out on loan to FC Utrecht last season.

With Barkas’ departure confirmed you could understand why Celtic would be reluctant to shop in the foreign market for a goalkeeper again, given recent past experiences in this sector. By going for tried and tested names such as Joe Hart, the club knows what they are getting in that particular department.

However, the club should not let the past fully dictate their future and therefore should sign a goalkeeper regardless of geography. Barkas was – at least on paper – a smart signing, but unfortunately, not all recruitment goes to plan.

With Hart now 36, Siegrist very much on the fringes and Bain happy to be the third choice, it feels like a good time for Celtic to bring a new shot-stopper in. When you look at the makeup of the outfield squad, Celtic’s first team is littered with different nationalities from Europe, Asia and South America. Why should one high-profile misfire lead to a reluctance to test the water again?

It has been highly publicised that the club’s recruitment strategy has changed since Brendan Rodgers’ first spell in charge of Celtic. There now seems to be a clear plan of action with regard to how Celtic conduct their business in the transfer market. This comes in the form of buying young talents from across the globe, giving them the platform to shine and then selling them on to a bigger or richer club for profit two or three years down the line.

This has been consistent with how Celtic have produced great young talent over the past two years in most positions, but the goalkeeping position is still the area which eludes the club. Although also from the UK, it was thought that Tobi Oluwayemi could potentially be the young goalkeeper to make the grade at the club by progressing from youth to first team, but injuries on his loan spell at Cork City have since curtailed his development.

Celtic can look to some big clubs who have taken the plunge with young foreign goalkeepers and gained positive results. Take Benfica for example, a club with regular success in the goalkeeping market. Slovenia international Jan Oblak was 17 when he made the move from Olimpija Ljubljana to the Portuguese giants, first spending time out on loan before making the grade at age 20 in Lisbon after regular Artur was dropped by Jorge Jesus in favour of him.

The talented young stopper played only 26 games in all competitions before being snapped up by Atletico Madrid the next summer, netting Benfica €16 million, which was a transfer record in La Liga at the time for a goalkeeper. Now aged 30, Oblak is widely considered as one of the best shot-stoppers of his generation.

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It is clear that these young goalkeepers are out there, but Celtic and its recruitment team have to cast their nets far and wide in order to obtain them. The club may have to step out of its comfort zone in this regard, but the potential for both quality on the pitch and profits off of it are surely too good to pass up.