Celtic had big shoes to fill in the goalkeeping department in the summer.
Joe Hart made the call to retire after a trophy-winning 21-year career and Brendan Rodgers needed a new number one to take the club forward.
The Celtic manager looked close to home for Hart’s replacement because in came a man he knew well from his days at Leicester City – Kasper Schmeichel.
The 38-year-old had spent the season at Anderlecht and was a free agent, as the champions of Scotland more than made the right call to bring him on board.
Celtic are pushing for the Treble, with the League Cup in hand and a mammoth 16 point lead at the top of the Premiership table.
Schmeichel has played a huge part in Celtic’s success so far, that he proceeded to extend his stay at the club before Christmas.
And Hart is watching on from afar knowing exactly how his former Manchester City teammate is feeling.
Joe Hart on hearing what Kasper Schmeichel’s comments on his time at Celtic
Celtic’s number one recently did an interview on the Overlap where he spoke with the likes of Gary Neville, Roy Keane, Jamie Carragher, Jill Scott and Ian Wright about his time in Glasgow.
To nobody’s surprise, Schmeichel is loving life in Celtic, especially given that he is coming towards the end of his career.
Hart spoke about his own time in the green and white colours, including how hearing from Schmeichel made him realise that he felt ‘exactly the same way’, as he told talkSPORT.
“I absolutely loved it,” said Hart about his time at Celtic. “I earned a good career and then, towards the end, it started to peter out.
“I thought, ‘wow, maybe I just got to have my peak years and then that’s football’. Then, to have the opportunity to go up there and have three years of just demanding excellence and demanding results.
“I hear Kasper talk about it now and I can see why he is so in love with it because I felt exactly the same. It’s a different feeling from winning to being expected to win. Then go onto the next game win, win, win and win all of those trophies.
“The kids were at a great age to enjoy it and it was a magical three years.
Schmeichel’s stats in his debut campaign at Celtic
Many feel that Schmeichel is better than Hart in between Celtic’s sticks, as his ability to play out from the back and be more commanding stands out.
On his way to the Treble, he is making sure the team is as sharp as ever at the back, including hardly conceding goals on home soil.
The upcoming Glasgow derby against Rangers is going to be huge, even though the title is done, because the Ibrox showing last time out was woeful.
And now it’s time to resume normal service by knocking out Barry Ferguson’s Rangers.
