Ugurcan Cakir Profiled; Celtic’s Potential Hart Replacement

With Joe Hart set to retire at the end of this season, Celtic will need a new goalkeeper in the summer.

Although head of recruitment Mark Lawell recently departed the club along with lead scout Joe Dudgeon, there have already been some links to a new stopper.

Indeed, Celtic chief executive Michael Nicholson has signalled to Trabzonspor the Hoops’ serious intent to sign their ‘keeper Ugurcan Cakir.

Brendan Rodgers is said to be driving the pursuit of Cakir, whose asking price is £12.5m. Such a price may be steep for Celtic, but the money is there.

Having just turned 28 last Friday, Cakir is entering the peak years of his career. He has been with Trabzonspor since he was 16, racking up 236 appearances for the club in all comPetitions.

During this time, he has won one Turkish Cup, one Turkish league title, and two Turkish Super Cups. He is one of the most consistently performing goalkeepers in his homeland and has 27 caps to his name.

He is captain of his team and as well as possessing invaluable leadership qualities, Cakir comes with quality.

This season for Celtic in the league, Joe Hart has played 2.54 accurate long balls per 90 (FotMob) compared to Cakir who – in the Turkish Super Lig – has made 9.77 per 90 this campaign. Although this may be down to some differences in the play styles of Celtic and Trabzonspor, one cannot get away from the stark contrast.

Similarly, in terms of high claims, Cakir is far ahead of Hart. In 2023/24 so far, the 28-year-old has made 1.28 high claims per 90 whereas Hart has averaged just 0.56.

At least in terms of these two metrics, Cakir seems to be more of a ‘modern’ ‘keeper than Hart which may partly explain Rodgers’ pursuit of him.

The Turk has a lot to offer in terms of experience, quality, and leadership and although Celtic would have to shell out a pretty penny to secure his services, it feels like it could be worth it.

Goalkeeper is one of the most important positions on the pitch and one cannot look back on the Vasilis Barkas debacle and compare the pursuit of Cakir to that because the player – and circumstances – are inherently different.

It may be a while away yet, but if the Hoops were to get a deal for Cakir done, it would be hugely encouraging and slightly make up for them missing out on Dominik Livakovic last summer.