According to latest reports in the Chronicle, Celtic sent scouts to witness Newcastle United’ u-23 goalkeeper Freddie Woodman in action against Southampton’s u-23 side. This could indicate that the Hoops are after a goalkeeper in the transfer market as they look to find a long-term replacement for Scottish custodian Craig Gordon who is already 35. By no means, Gordon is performing poorly but one cannot fault the manager for looking at a replacement for him at this point.
Gordon was recently dropped in favour of Rangers’ Allan McGregor as he made some errors while representing Scotland but he is still good enough to carry on for Rodgers’ side for the next few seasons.
Woodman is a current England u-21 international, and the goalkeeper has yet not committed his future at St. James’ Park even though he is in the last year of his contract. So there is every opportunity that the Bhoys can land him on a cut-price deal in January or even for free in the summer if they get him to agree on personal terms.
The custodian has already got a taste of Scottish football as he has had two loan spells with Scottish outfits. In January 2017, he joined Kilmarnock where he made 15 appearances and was the first choice keeper for the six months. This year again in January, Woodman moved to Aberdeen this time where he impressed in the eight appearances he made.
The 21-year-old has represented England at almost all youth levels, and he has been part of some major wins with the Three Lions at the various age groups. One wouldn’t be wrong in saying that he can be looked upon as a future England international.
The Hoops were interested in him even in the January transfer window, but Rodgers was unable to land his target. So the interest in this talented goalkeeper shouldn’t come as a surprise to anyone as this is not the first time that the Hoops are looking to sign this talented youngster.
The Englishman etched his name in the history books when he won the FIFA u-20 World Cup with England for the first time in their history. His contribution in the final was an important one as he saved a penalty from Venezuela and England held on to a narrow 1-0 win.
Celtic did go on to sign Scott Bain in the summer after he had spent some time on loan at Park Head coming from Dundee. Veteran custodian Dorus de Vries is likely to leave next summer as his contract will be running out and he will be 38 by that time. Gordon has his contract up until 2020, so this is probably the right time for the Hoops to sort their goalkeeping situation for the future and that is why the signing of Woodman would make sense.
