Why Celtic need to recruit Joe Hart's replacement quickly

The Scottish champions are in the market for a new goalkeeper if you didn't know. Didn't you know? Brendan Rodgers, the Celtic hierarchy and the Celtic supporters, have all known that crucial piece of information since February when Joe Hart decided to go public on the decision to hang up his gloves and call time on his career.

Hart bowed out at the top with a Scottish Premiership and Scottish Cup double. He certainly assured iconic status during his three years in between the sticks. Individuals can argue the toss as to whether he qualifies for legendary status. However, Hart will be Celtic's biggest ambassador, not on the payroll moving forward. That's not such a bad thing.

The transfer window is some 11 days away from opening and on the surface, you could be forgiven for thinking that Celtic are no further forward in their search for Hart's successor.

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Several names have been linked with the vacant goalkeeping post. So far Celtic has been linked to Southampton’s Alex McCarthy, Aston Villa stopper Viljami Sinisalo, and free agent Kenan Piric whose last club was AEK Larnaca. Now, Bayern Munich goalkeeper Daniel Peretz is the latest name to be thrown into the mix. Although Nottingham Forest, Anderlecht, Sevilla, Union Berlin, Copenhagen and Villarreal are also reputedly keen on the 23-year-old.

You have also had Trabzonspor goalkeeper, Ugurcan Çakir, and Werder Bremen shot-stopper, Michael Zetterer allegedly in the frame to take over from Hart as was RKC Waalwijk goalkeeper Etienne Vaessen. Asmir Begovic and Liam Kelly were also mentioned in despatches as was Burnley goalkeeper Ari Muric.

Only last week, it was Belgian shot-stopper Koen Casteels, who is set to leave Wolfsburg on a free transfer and was supposedly a transfer target for Celtic. Rodgers was reputedly interested in the 31-year-old because Celtic could offer Champions League football but it looks like Casteels is the latest name to be tempted by the riches on offer in Saudi Arabia. Then Man Utd goalkeeper Altay Bayindir was the flavour of the day before those stories were shot down as swiftly as they had appeared on social media.

There is also the constant speculation that won't go away surrounding more ambitious targets in the shape of £20 million rated Liverpool goalkeeper Caoimhin Kelleher (25), Real Madrid's Ukrainian international No.1 Andriy Lunin (25) and former Celtic goalkeeper Fraser Forster (35), now plying his trade at Tottenham Hotspur.

The list is extensive as well as exhaustive. What did I say? Pick a day. Pick a goalkeeper. Any goalkeeper. Link him with a move to Celtic. You could name an outfield eleven and substitute bench based on goalkeepers who have been touted for a switch to Celtic since Hart decided he was hanging up his gloves. There's a touch of Groundhog Day about it all, isn't there?

What Hart proved is that Celtic needs to splash out an experienced goalkeeper. There is no substitute for experience. The last line of defence is the bedrock upon which the rest of the team is built. The spine of any successful team starts with the goalkeeper. His level of capture has to symbolise stability. Celtic are building for the future. There is no room for short-termism when it comes to goalkeepers.

Ironically Celtic failed to nail down Forster on a long-term deal for the ill-fated 2020/21 season and brought in Greek international Vasilis Barkas for a fee of over £5 million. Barkas was an unmitigated disaster in terms of recruitment for Celtic. That much is true. These things happen. The men in green and white got their fingers burned on that particular deal. However, that should not deter the Celtic hierarchy or make them think twice about shelling out a similar fee for Hart's replacement.

READ MORE: Celtic must not let past failures hamper their future recruitment

It is imperative that Celtic recruit the best man for the job that their finances will allow sooner rather than later. Due diligence will have been conducted and Rodgers will certainly be all over this specific transfer. Bringing in an experienced goalkeeper who can command his penalty area and instil the backline with confidence is a rarity, especially, if you add in the caveat that you also want them to be good with the ball at their feet.

Such players cost money. Big money. Celtic, Rodgers and the board fully understand that. This is not the time for any kind of project way of thinking. Celtic will have to cast their net far and wide to fill the void that Hart left both as a player on the pitch as well as being a huge voice and influence inside the Celtic dressing room off it.

For a start the new Celtic goalkeeper will have to face off against some of European football's deadliest marksmen come the new Champions League format next season, which guarantees the club eight games at the top table. That task should be one that he welcomes with relish and not see as daunting or an onerous one. The new Celtic No.1 will be a busy man when that competition rolls around. That's exactly why Celtic must get the goalkeeping position right.

It's another golden reason why the manager's green and white pawprints have to be all over Celtic's blueprint moving forward. Rodgers has to be all over the process of selecting a new goalkeeper. He has to be in charge of all of the processes. Rodgers and Celtic will continue to be successful if he continues to shape the destiny of the club, none more so than when it comes to the recruitment of players.

The Ange Postecoglou era was so successful because he immersed himself in all of those managerial mechanics. Postecoglou identified what was needed in the Celtic team and became the chief scout, head of recruitment, and manager all rolled into one. We all know what happened after that.

That means the current manager has to sign off on every single player like he said he did at the AGM back in November with these words. "No player has been pushed onto me. We have a structure and set up and we are planning for the longer term in our signing strategy. I make the final decision on whether we sign a player.

"The big thing for me coming back was the recruitment network. By the time we reach the summer, I hope to have the numbers and quality I want in the squad."

Those numbers and quality should start with the recruitment of a tried, tested and experienced goalkeeper. That task could well do with being completed in the next fortnight or so and certainly long before the club embarks on the pre-season tour of the USA. There is a school of thought that a good goalkeeper is worth between 15-20 points a season for any given club. That total may well be a stretch but it is a measure and indication of just how important the position of a goalkeeper is to any great team.

The Scottish champions and Champions League representatives need a quality goalkeeper added to their ranks this summer. Rodgers can get the ball rolling on that by adding the kind of quality player that gives the supporters hope moving forward. That's why getting the first line of defence spot on is crucial to the future success of the club. Anything less and the gloves are off, so to speak.

Celtic have known this day would come since February which is a bit like Groundhog Day. To borrow some lines from the film: "You couldn't have planned a day like this." "Well, you can. It just takes an awful lot of work."

It's 12 months on from Rodgers's most wonderful soundbite on assuming the esteemed and high office of becoming the Celtic manager for a second time. Rodgers said emphatically: "Let’s get to work!”

The recruitment of a top-quality Celtic goalkeeper this summer will define Rodgers at his work.