Joe Hart announced his retirement from professional football at the end of last season, hanging up the gloves after a solid career which culminated at Celtic. The Glasgow outfit won yet another Scottish Premier League title, with Hart treated to a wonderful send off.

The former Birmingham City and Manchester City goalkeeper was a regular in the England side, playing at two major tournaments and earning 75 England cups during his international career. However, Hart called time on his tenure between the sticks, leaving Celtic in search of a new goalkeeper.

“I wanted to get the message out as of June I am going to stop playing football,” Hart said. “This is something that I have thought about for a while, there’s no right or wrong time is there?

“There is obviously a conversation around the goalkeeping position for next season and I think it’s really important that with the blessing of the club we get the message out and it takes one thing out of what people are going to speculate over.

“Physically I feel great, I feel as good as I possibly can do. For my age and what I have done to my body, I have been on the bench since I was 15, have been involved in professional football every day since I was 16. “

“I have gone down every avenue to keep myself in the best possible shape to give my all on game day and I do really think I am at that peak, but I am aware time waits for no man and I don’t want my body to be retiring me. “

The 37-year-old won a plethora of trophies at Celtic Park, but now the pressure is on Brendan Rodgers to find a new number one, with Celtic guaranteed run in the newly formatted Champions League that will span from mid-September all the way to late January.

The Swiss-style format allows Celtic to play up to eight games in Europe, and Rodgers will be hoping to give a good account of the side following several disastrous campaigns amongst the continent’s elite.

That said, Celtic will be most likely playing damage limitations in these games and a good goalkeeper is a top priority in this summer’s transfer window. Hart knew his time was up between the sticks and announced his retirement far in advance of the end of last season, so the move was so real shock to the Celtic board, who will hopefully have time to prepare for Hart’s departure and line up some targets.

With that in mind, here we look at some goalkeeping alternatives for Celtic ahead of a crucial season in both Scotland and the Champions League.

Zander Clark

We begin close to home with Hearts keeper Zander Clark. The 32-year-old was instrumental in his side finishing third in the league, keeping the most clean sheets outside of Celtic and Rangers in the league as they finished on an impressive 68 points. Although it’s unlikely the two sides will be able to strike a move for the 32-year-old, although he has put together a highlight reel of top saves when the two sides have met in recent years, most notably in the 3-0 win at Celtic Park, where at times it looked like Hearts would shock the most popular free bet offers and pull off an upset.

Altay Bayindir

Over to the top target for many Celtic fans after missing out on Koen Casteels to the Saudi Pro League, Altay Bayindir is said to be the man who will come in to be the new No. 1 for the Scottish Premiership champions. The 26-year-old has eight international caps with Turkey to his name, having joined Manchester United last summer but received minimal action from Erik ten Hag.

Dislodging Andre Onana, who was signed for so much money from Ajax in the same window, was always going to be tough, but it opens the door for Bayindir to trade Manchester for Glasgow.

Peter Vindahl Jensen

Peter Vindahl Jensen is another experienced keeper who would fit straight in between the sticks at Celtic Park. The Sparta Prague number one has been in ongoing negotiationswith the club and could soon put pen to paper on a permanent deal. The Danish international played 33 times last season, including the 11-2 aggregate defeat to Liverpool in the Europa League.

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Overall, it will take time for Celtic to find a suitable replacement for a keeper as good as Hart. With the likes of Martin Dúbravka and Loris Karius also available as free agents this summer, they could be good alternatives in what could be a goalkeeper merry-go-round if Manchester City’s Ederson completes a move to Saudi Arabia.