£22m goalkeeper may be Celtic’s ideal Joe Hart replacement, he could be free this summer

A few short weeks ago, Celtic’s search for a new goalkeeper took a significant turn when Joe Hart declared he would be retiring at the end of the current campaign.

The history-making treble winner will, ideally, hang up his mitts after winning another league championship and wearing a Scottish Cup winners medal around his neck.

Hart’s success at Celtic since leaving Spurs for £1 million less than three years ago is undeniable.

Despite all of his flaws, the seasoned goalie has kept us in several games this season, and it will be very challenging to replace him.

The Celtics fans, who have grown to love Hart over the years, will also miss him dearly.

So who can replace him? Do Celtic even have names on a list? If not, here is one that I think could do a job and he could cost nothing this summer.

Alex Meret could be Celtic’s next Joe Hart

The current Napoli goalkeeper has been in great form for the Italian club this season. A Serie A and Italian Cup winner, Meret is out of contract this summer.

Meret was purchased by Napoli in 2018 for €25m (£22m) from Udinese. [ESPN]

Meret’s current contract only requires him to play 70% of Napoli’s first-team games this season in order for the extension to take effect, therefore his agency is optimistic that they can secure a one-year extension.

That doesn’t seem to be a problem because Meret’s name is the first one on the team sheet. However, it’s possible that his agency, as reported by TuttuMercato, is pressuring Meret to sign a longer, better contract, and if he doesn’t, he may decide to leave the team.

Meret now makes £49k a week at the Italian powerhouses, but if Celtic were to make a bid, they could use the money they save on a transfer fee to increase the 26-year-old goalkeeper’s pay. [PaySport]

Alex Meret’s stats and being a Celtic No1

Meret has made 22 appearances for Napoli this season and has had four clean sheets and conceded 25 goals and has an average rating of 6.61 on Fotmob.

With a save success record of more than 66%, his 49 saves this season place him in the center of the top performers in Serie A. Not too terrible, given that he’s facing some of Europe’s top strikers.

This season, Meret has faced two penalties and saved one, but with just four high ball claims, he has among the lowest figures.

With a success percentage of slightly over 45%, the 26-year-old has tried 84 long balls and has an accuracy of 81.7% when passing.

He has three caps for Italy as well. Although Meret is obviously talented and has to improve in certain areas of his game, Hart too needed improvement, but that didn’t hinder Hart from succeeding at Celtic.

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