Celtic must U-turn on Dinko Horkas decision, 72.1% and 28.7 stats show why
Martin O'Neill should still be targeting Las Palmas goalkeeper Dinko Horkas after a new report claimed that Celtic are not interested in signing him anymore.
Celtic are after a new goalkeeper to compete with Viljami Sinsalo after Kasper Schmeichel retired at the end of last season.
The Dane was forced to call time on his career after he suffered a long-term shoulder injury, leaving the ex-Aston Villa man as the Hoops only stopper with real first team experience.
Martin O'Neill has confirmed that the club are in the market to sign someone who can challenge with Sinisalo, with Las Palmas' Horkas believed to be on their radar.
Despite widespread reports of their interest, The Record's Ryan McDonald has claimed that Horkas is not someone they are looking to sign right now.
The Croatian stopper boasts strong statistics from his time in the second tier of Spanish football and O'Neill should definitely be eyeing his services after some initial interest.
Dinko Horkas swoop still makes a lot of sense for Celtic
Sinisalo had some good moments but certainly left a lot to be desired during his stint between the sticks for Celtic towards the end of last season.
He ended the campaign with just one clean sheet and 15 goals conceded in 12 league matches, while boasting one of the poorest save percentage stats, 60.5, in the Scottish top flight.
Horkas has clearly been a target for the Hoops for a few weeks now, with reports of their interest first emerging from credible sources in June.
His price tag seems to be the potential sticking point, with reports claiming that Las Palmas want around £4.7million to part ways with their number one keeper.
His statistics from last season show that he is clearly worth such a fee, after he emerged with 13 clean sheets and 39 goals conceded in 41 league games.
Horkas boasted one of the best save percentages, 72.1, in the division, and he was also one of the best passers of the ball between the sticks as he completed 74.3 per cent of them (28.7 per game) from a huge sample size of 1159.
He is 27-years-old and boasts experience in several top flight European leagues, and it clearly makes sense to sign him as a clear upgrade on Sinisalo this summer.
What has O'Neill said about signing a new goalkeeper?
O'Neill has made it very clear that he wants to bolster his goalkeeping department this summer, with sources telling Football Insider that Celtic players are causing unrest due to their lack of transfer activity.
Speaking earlier in the summer, he said: “We’ve only got the two young lads, we’ve got Ross [Doohan] and we’ve got [Viljami] 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…(now it's a) new season.”
“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.”
Horkas seems to be exactly in the right mould of stopper that Celtic need, and Celtic chiefs must realise that they will have to pay a fee close to what Las Palmas want to get the calibre of keeper that O'Neill is demanding this summer.