Regardless of how this season ends, there will be plenty of work for Celtic to do in the transfer market next summer. Poor recruitment cost the Hoops a place in the Champions League last August, and it may ultimately see them relinquish the Premiership title, currently two points below leaders Hearts, ahead of Sunday's crucial trip to Tannadice.
So, while supporters will be demanding new recruits at centre-back, in midfield, on the wing and at centre-forward, a new goalkeeper has to be at the very top of their priority list. Up until very recently, Kasper Schmeichel had been the Celts' first-choice before, after a string of errors, Viljami Sinisalo came into the team in Stuttgart, starting each of the last five matches.
Kasper Schmeichel has played his final game for Celtic
Since being an unused substitute at Neckarstadion, Schmeichel had been nowhere to be seen, with Ross Doohan the reserve goalkeeper, and the Dane's disappearance was shrouded in mystery. That was until he appeared on CBS' Champions League coverage alongside his father Peter this week, making this surprise revelation:
"I'm going to need two surgeries to fix my shoulder... I've torn the biceps, torn the rotator cuff, dislocated the shoulder, torn the labrum... it's looking like 10-12 months of rehab... I could have played my last-ever football game. "Kasper Schmeichel on his injury
This is obviously devastating news for Schmeichel himself, considering the severity of his injury, on top of the fact that he will turn 40 in November. Later in the interview, Peter revealed that his son first sustained this issue in March 2025, playing for Denmark against Portugal in the UEFA Nations League quarter-finals. Upon his return to Glasgow, he missed only four Celtic matches, intimating that he had been playing with pain-killing injections for a year. Was this sensible and well-managed by the club? Well, no, almost certainly not, but that's in keeping with what we know about the Celtic hierarchy.
Schmeichel junior is Denmark's fifth-most capped player of all-time, and will obviously miss the Rød-Hvide's upcoming World Cup play-offs next week, and then the World Cup itself if they make it. From a Celtic perspective, even if he does make a return, Schmeichel's contract expires in the summer, so he's surely played his last game for the club. Thus, what next?
Well, for the remainder of this campaign, Sinisalo will remain Martin O'Neill's number one as the Bhoys continue their push for the Premiership title, as well as their quest for Scottish Cup glory, facing St Mirren at Hampden in the semi-final on 19 April. However, while the Finn has been generally solid when called upon, he does not appear to be at the level Celtic require and should aspire to.
Regardless of Sinisalo becoming number one for now, they will surely need to recruit a new shot-stopper come the summer, either as competition for Sinisalo or to straight-up usurp him in the pecking order. In recent times, the club have targeted experienced goalkeepers in the mid-to-late 30s, namely Craig Gordon, Fraser Forster on loan, Joe Hart and Schmeichel himself.
If they stick with that strategy, perhaps Angus Gunn will arrive from Nottingham Forest, while, when looking at those out of contract in June, Manuel Neuer certainly leaps off the page; can you imagine that? Whoever it is, Celtic will need to recruit a new number one, and we're sure every supporter would like to wish Schmeichel all the best in his recovery, despite his recent poor form, which now makes a lot more sense.