Viljami Sinisalo may have inherited Celtic's No 1 jersey this season, but manager Martin O'Neill has made it clear he is still in the market for another goalkeeper. The Hoops are short of cover between the sticks after Kasper Schmeichel was forced to retire at the end of the campaign through injury.
Sinisalo, 24, has looked the part since making his big breakthrough in January, playing a huge role in helping Celtic complete a famous Double. The Finland international looks set to start the new term as first-choice after swapping shirt numbers from 12 to one. However, with Ross Doohan as his only senior deputy, O'Neill wants to bolster his options in goal.
O'Neill Confirms Need for Goalkeeper Competition
O'Neill said: "We need another goalkeeper. We've only got the two young lads, we've got Ross and we've got Sinisalo, so we definitely need another goalkeeper. You need competition for places as well. I thought Sinisalo did really fine for us under really trying circumstances coming in, replacing the big fellow, so he's done fine at this minute. That was last season... new season."
Sinisalo pulled off a string of superb saves against Sporting CP on Tuesday night before the floodgates opened after he was replaced by Doohan as the champions slumped to a 4-1 defeat in the Algarve. But O'Neill offered no guarantees the gloves were his to keep and admitted he could look at a more experienced shotstopper in the mould of predecessors Schmeichel and Joe Hart.
He added: "That's definitely a thought. I don't want an older goalkeeper who thinks, 'Well, I'm just going to be number two.' I want somebody to be threatening. It has to be. Even if it wasn't an older goalkeeper, there's no reason why we shouldn't be thinking of somebody younger."
Nawrocki Likely to Leave Celtic
Meanwhile, O'Neill admitted Polish defender Maik Nawrocki is likely to leave Parkhead this summer. Ex-boss Brendan Rodgers splashed out £4.3 million to sign the centre-back from Legia Warsaw in 2023, but his time in Glasgow has been blighted by injury and fitness issues. Nawrocki impressed during a season-long loan spell with Hannover 96 as the Bundesliga 2 outfit narrowly missed out on promotion to the top-flight. The towering stopper was a threat at the top end of the park too, chipping in with six goal contributions from 18 outings.
It is understood the 25-year-old has several transfer options on the table from Germany, and O'Neill admits he won't stand in Nawrocki's way if he wants to kickstart his career elsewhere. O'Neill said: "In many aspects, you could say it's a clean slate for everyone, but just taking him. We have Cameron Carter-Vickers back, big Dane Murray whom I've got a lot of time for. Then you've got Liam Scales and Auston Trusty. We've got four, so it's going to be hard for him to battle through from there. I have had a word with him. He's doing really well. There are teams that want to take him on loan, there's teams that want to buy him - and that's great. You don't want to stop his momentum. I think he would want to stay and fight for his place here, but that's going to be difficult. But what I said to him is that I'm going to have a look at some of the matches that he played while he was out on loan. That's the best way for me to make some sort of judgment in real games. Then that's a conversation he would have. But really, while his career's going now, he doesn't want to get stalled here by sitting and being third or fourth-choice centre half. But I think he's done really well here in the training. He's been an impressive young man as well and really, really well-mannered."
Balikwisha and Bernardo Face Uncertain Futures
Outcast Michel-Ange Balikwisha finds himself in the same boat after a dismal 12 months. The Belgian attacker had been on Celtic's radar for more than a year before the club eventually coughed up £5 million to lure him from Royal Antwerp. But the DR Congo international quickly found himself out of favour under three different managers in Rodgers, O'Neill and Wilfried Nancy, starting just three of his 14 appearances.
Balikwisha has been given a clean slate in pre-season and started both friendlies against Shelbourne and Sporting CP in his preferred No 10 role rather than out wide left. However, the 25-year-old struggled to make any sort of impact in either 45-minute cameo and now looks surplus to requirements.
The same goes for Portuguese midfielder Paulo Bernardo, who has failed to nail down a regular starting berth since joining in a £3.5 million permanent deal from Benfica two years ago. The 24-year-old has slipped down the pecking order behind the likes of Callum McGregor, Arne Engels, Benjamin Nygren and Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain.
O'Neill has warned the out-of-favour duo they face a tall order forcing their way into his plans despite being handed rare minutes in Dublin and the Algarve. The veteran boss added: "Yeah, absolutely. The same situation arises so you've got a chance now, pre-season, some games. Every single day during that time from January right through, he (Balikwisha) never moaned about anything, got on with it, trained hard. The same with Paulo, trained really hard, and the same again here. There might be things around the corner, I don't know that, but I'm not in any desperate rush to send them on their way. If they feel as if they can't get into the side then obviously that's an issue."
