Celtic close in on former Chelsea player on free transfer

Celtic have had a solid summer transfer window till now. The club managed to keep the core of their double winning squad together by signing Jota, Cameron Carter-Vickers and Daizen Maeda on permanent deals, after their brilliant loan spells. On the other hand, there are new faces at Parkhead as well in the form of Benjamin Siegrist, Alexandro Bernabei, Aaron Mooy and Moritz Jenz, who has been signed on loan from Lorient.

On the other hand, quite a few players have departed as well even though there have been no real high profile exits, although the likes of Matt O’Riley and Josip Juranovic have been linked with moves away from the club.

While it looks like Celtic are still open to making more additions to their senior squad, it appears that they have their eyes on strengthening the youth team at the same time.

As reported by the Daily Record, Celtic are looking to close a deal for Northern Irish goalkeeper, Josh Clarke. The former Chelsea and Bournemouth youngster has drawn the interest of several Premier League sides as well and is a free agent. He is believed to have been on the Hoops’ radar for some time.

Celtic closing in on former Chelsea player on free transfer

Clarke is just 18 years of age and would not be expected to make a mark on the senior team straight off the bat, as the likes of Joe Hart and Siegrist are competing for the first-team gloves.

Instead, Clarke is very likely to go into Celtic’s B squad, if the club did manage to sign him, and compete with Tobi Oluwayemi, who is also very highly rated and touted to be a future first-team star.

Celtic have lost a number of key youngsters in recent years to clubs across Europe and thus, signing someone like Clarke would be a massive boost to their youth setup and hopes of bringing through players into the first-team.