Goalkeeper Viljami Sinisalo is the first Celtic summer arrival, with Kasper Schmeichel having also now joined the Scottish Premiership champions.

The double move to strengthen the goalkeeper department follows former number one Joe Hart’s decision to hang up his gloves at the end of last season as the club .

Danish internationalist Schmeichel has joined on a one-year deal, with the option of a second, following the expiry of his contract with Belgian side Anderlecht. 22-year-old Finnish keeper Sinisalo has already checked in at Celtic Park, signing on a five-year contract after a reported fee of around £1m was agreed with Aston Villa.

Here, using Wyscout data, we take a closer look at both goalkeepers’ recent performances and assess what role they can play in Brendan Rodgers’ squad over the next few seasons.

Kasper Schmeichel

Schmeichel General Info

Schmeichel’s move to Celtic sees the Danish number one reunite with his former Leicester manager – the experienced goalkeeper made 155 appearances while Rodgers was in charge at the King Power Stadium.

Son of legendary Manchester United goalkeeper Peter Schmeichel of course, Kasper has carved out a very impressive career of his own, picking up over 100 caps for his country. A Premier League and FA Cup winner with The Foxes too, Schmeichel made over 400 appearances for the East Midlands side before joining Nice in the summer of 2022.

Schmeichel, who had a loan spell in Scotland with Falkirk earlier in his career, had a mixed campaign in Ligue 1 though and departed after just one season to join Anderlecht on a one-year deal last summer.

Schmeichel Percentile Rank

The 37-year-old enjoyed a more successful time in Belgium last season, as his percentile rank chart, which compares him to all other goalkeepers in the Belgian Pro League who played a minimum of 1,000 minutes, highlights.

Although Anderlecht finished second in the regular season, and then third in the Championship round, Schmeichel personally had an impressive campaign with his shot-stopping ranking amongst the best in the league.

Anderlecht’s struggles are underlined by the fact Schmeichel faced an average xG per 90 of 1.23 but the Danish keeper’s conceded goals of 0.91 saw him register a prevented goals average of 0.314 per 90 (95th percentile). Over the course of the season this was worth over ten goals with his 10.69 prevented goals total unmatched by any other goalkeeper in the Belgian Pro League.

Schmeichel’s save rate percentage was consistent with this, equally impressive at 78.91 per cent (95th percentile).

In the claiming/sweeping section of his chart, despite facing plenty of attacks, Schmeichel ranked towards the bottom of the dataset when it came to exits per 90 (0.85)/aerial duels per 90 (0.06). This could of course be the result of tactical decisions at Anderlecht but, given his advancing years, it may also be that leaving his line is something that he is not quite as able to do at this stage of his career.

As mentioned in a previous article on reported target Peter Vindahl Jensen, Rodgers has continued to use his goalkeeper in build-up phases during his second spell in charge so utility on the ball will have been a key consideration when identifying options to replace Hart.

Based on Schmeichel’s most recent season, he should be comfortable enough in this regard, in a domestic setting anyway. Although five other teams averaged more passes than Anderlecht last season, Schmeichel was still active on the ball.

He averaged 27.38 passes per 90 which ranked in the 90th percentile. More importantly, his overall passing accuracy of 87.43 per cent ranked just inside the top quartile while his 18.03 short/medium passes per 90 and 98.21 per cent accuracy in those passes saw Schmeichel rank at the same points in those metrics too.

Not as important given Celtic’s preference to play short from the back, Schmeichel’s efficiency in his distribution last season extended to longer passes with the Dane posting an above average, for a Belgian Pro League goalkeeper, accuracy percentage of 66.67 per cent from an average volume of 9.35 per 90.

Despite being the same age as the now retired Hart, Schmeichel’s recent season in Belgium, where he showcased impressive shot-stopping and efficient distribution, suggests he still has something to offer yet. A steady performer for Denmark at the Euros in Germany this summer too, his vast experience could be valuable asset for Celtic in the upcoming season and potentially into the following one.

Viljami Sinisalo

Sinisalo General Info  

Whether Schmeichel extends his stay beyond next summer will be down to a few factors, one of them being how ready Sinisalo is to take up the number one jersey.

15 years younger than Schmeichel, Sinisalo has been brought in as an understudy/second choice following an impressive season with Exeter City on loan from Premier League side Aston Villa.

Sinisalo is highly rated and already has three caps to his name for Finland, his most recent coming at Hampden against Scotland in their final warm-up game for the Euros. Joining Villa from Espoo in his homeland at 16, Sinisalo has further Scottish connections with a spell at Ayr United in Scottish Championship in 2020/21 his first loan move away from Villa Park.

He made over 20 appearances for The Honest Men before an unsuccessful temporary move to Burton Albion in 2022/23 was cut short after just a handful of opportunities.

Sinisalo Percentile Rank

Last season was a breakout campaign for Sinisalo though as the towering Finn played over 4,500 minutes on loan at Exeter City in England’s third tier, helping former Celt Gary Caldwell’s side to a 13th place finish.

As his percentile rank chart, which compares him to all EFL League One goalkeeper (again, minimum 1,000 minutes played), shows, like Schmeichel, Sinisalo had a very strong shot-stopping season.

His total prevented goals was 3.63, working out at 0.072 per 90 and placing Sinisalo in the top quartile for that metric. His save rate of 71.22 per cent also ranked amongst the best goalkeepers in League One.

Again, tactical preferences may have influenced but the younger, taller, Sinisalo was more active when it came to leaving his line than Schmeichel last season. His 0.46 aerial duels per 90 was above average for a League One goalkeeper. His 1.29 exits per 90 not ranking quite as high, just above the bottom quartile.

Finally, distribution. Caldwell’s Exeter looked to play a possession-based game last season with Sinisalo playing in a side that averaged the fifth most passes per 90 in the league. They clearly looked to play shorter from the back too with Sinisalo’s chart showing a lower rank for his long passes volume (8.5 per 90) compared to his short\medium passes (16.36 per 90).

His long passing accuracy (54.57 per cent) ranked as one of the lowest of all goalkeepers in the league. However, that is not as big an issue given the role of a Celtic goalkeeper and Sinisalo’s short/medium passing accuracy (98.18 per cent) ranked much more favourably, just below the top quartile. One area of his game where he will hopefully improve further as he develops, his overall accurate pass percentage was above average at 83.07 per cent.

Brought in along with Schmeichel on a shorter-term deal, the move to bring in Sinisalo at the same time to act as understudy initially but also as a potential longer-term number one is a smart approach.

Celtic still have plenty of other areas of the pitch to address this summer but, by making this double move, the goalkeeping position appears to be one area that can be ticked off