So it’s been revealed today that Celtic have rejected a £3m bid from Chelsea for their number one goalkeeper Craig Gordon.

But should the Scottish Premiership champions rethink their stance if the London side make an improved offer?

It’s a hard one.

I know the story has caused a bit of mirth in some parts but I can see why Chelsea would want to bring him in. He has plenty of experience and they could then sell on Asmir Begovic for around £12m. Gordon would only be considered a backup at Stamford Bridge but he’d be a very good backup, in my opinion.

After a rocky start to the season, which saw Gordon dropped in favour of new signing Dorus de Vries, the Scottish international managed to turn everything around and is now a consistently good performer for Brendan Rodgers‘ side.

Now while the keeper only has six months left on his current deal, Celtic have an option to sign him up for another year. Really they should have already triggered that extension by now but this latest scenario may twist Peter Lawwell’s arm to get the deal done sooner rather than later.

In thirty-four appearances this seasons, Gordon has kept eighteen clean-sheets and that’s a tremendous record. It gives Celtic a stability to build from.

But on the other hand if you can get £5m for a thirty-four year old goalie that has, at most, eighteen months left on a deal, that could represent a good deal for the Celtic money-men.

They could then bring in a good replacement for a fraction of the cost.

In Scotland, former English under-21 keeper Joe Lewis has really impressed at Aberdeen and only has a year and a half left on his contract.

While twenty-two year old Jack Hamilton has done well at Hearts and won himself a few call-ups for the Scotland senior side. He could come in at Celtic and challenge with de Vries for a starting berth.

Down south, Scunthorpe United man Luke Daniels has impressed with his ten clean-sheets so far this term.

It’s quite telling that Celtic fans seem very split on whether their current number one should stay or go.

Would Craig want to leave Parkhead? 

Well he’d more than likely get a big wage rise going to Chelsea but I doubt he’ll get enough game time. Current Chelsea number one Thibaut Courtois may leave for Real Madrid in the summer but Antonio Conte will just go out and bring in another world class stopper.

So I seriously doubt Gordon will return to the English Premier League on the basis he won’t play. He’s already had lengthy spells without playing in his career and it would seem like madness to leave Celtic while he’s number one there and winning trophies to sit on the bench, unless he’s got some money issues.

The main person that matters in this, other than Gordon himself, is Celtic boss Rodgers.

Brendan stated:

‘Would Chelsea be wasting their time? Yes, of course. We don’t want to sell him. His contract is up at the end of the season but the club have the option of another year. Selling Craig’s not something we would even consider.’

That to me says it all. Gordon has won Rodgers over and shown his worth to the team. Rodgers knows from his time at Liverpool that you need a goalie that you can trust and that works well with the defence. While there might be others out there than can come in and do a job, I doubt Brendan would risk it when on course for the treble.

In the end I think the Celtic board will be tempted to talk to Chelsea but they will decide against it if Brendan Rodgers is adamant that he doesn’t want to sell because at the moment they know they need to keep the gaffer sweet and not rock the boat.

 

Posted on January 26th, 2017 by scott
Filed under: Article