Kasper Schmeichel left Celtic and has announced his retirement in May. Martin O’Neill’s side have to bring the Dane’s replacement to Celtic Park this summer.
The Scottish champions have already linked to a few players like Hertha BSC’s Tjark Ernst and UD Las Palmas’ Dinko Horkaš.
On July 1st, Sport Witness covered claims from Germany that Celtic joined the race to sign Ernst.
Two days later, we relayed news O’Neill’s side are in talks with the Spanish club for Horkaš. There was a mention of a €4m offer from Celtic while Las Palmas have lowered their price from €10m to €7m.
Celtic want Hertha player
Berlin-based newspaper BZ now make no mention of Dinko Horkaš in a report focusing on Celtic’s interest in Tjark Ernst.
The 23-year-old joined the second division German club in 2022 and has been their first choice since 2023.
He’s kept 24 clean sheets and conceded 140 goals from 97 matches. This includes 12 clean sheets and 46 goals conceded from 37 matches last season.
Martin O’Neill’s side and Feyenoord have shown keen interest in the German and are likely to battle it out for his signature this summer.
Both Celtic and the Eredivisie side ‘want Ernst immediately’, to make him their new No.1 next season.
He has a contract until 2027, and it has a €5m release clause. The newspaper claims the two clubs are prepared to trigger the clause as they find the price easily affordable.
Feyenoord have made it clear to his camp that they want him at all costs, while Borussia Mönchengladbach have recently joined the transfer race.
European advantage for Celtic
Celtic have qualified for the Champions League play-offs, while the others won’t play in Europe next season.
This would give Martin O’Neill’s side an edge over their two competitors. Celtic could use this to convince Tjark Ernst to pick them over Feyenoord or another club. If this is done, then all that’s left will be to activate his €5m clause.
There should be more developments in the next few hours or days.
