Celtic head into the international break at the top of the Scottish Premiership table after their convincing 3-1 win over St. Johnstone at Parkhead on Saturday.
Their rivals Rangers had their clash with Dundee postponed due to a waterlogged pitch on Sunday, which meant that the Hoops ended the weekend one point clear – having played one more game than the team in second.
The Hoops still have the chance to secure two trophies before the end of the season as they remain in the Premiership title race and are set to play Aberdeen in the semi-finals of the SFA Cup last month.
They were knocked out of Europe in the group stages of the Champions League, and were dumped from the League Cup by Kilmarnock, during the first half of the campaign.
The Scottish giants may look to make changes to their playing squad to fare better across all competitions and in Europe next season, and there is one position that will need looking at as Joe Hart is set to retire.
Latest Celtic transfer news
Celtic will need to find a player to take the former England international's place between the sticks and Brendan Rodgers may have already found the dream replacement for him.
According to Dutch paper Algemeen Dagblad (17/03/2024), via SoccerNews, the Hoops have identified RKC Waalwijk goalkeeper Etienne Vaessen as a target ahead of the summer transfer window.
The report claims that the Glasgow-based side have already placed an offer on the table to sign the talented shot-stopper to bolster their squad.
His current contract with Waalwijk is due to expire at the end of the season and this has allowed Celtic to make him an offer to sign a pre-contract agreement.
However, the outlet states that Vaessen is in no rush to make a decision on his future. The 28-year-old star has his full focus on helping his current club to avoid relegation from the Eredivisie before deciding his next move.
Algemeen Dagblad reports that Dutch giants PSV are also interested in a possible swoop to sign the experienced shot-stopper, and that the interest from both clubs has not left him 'unmoved', which suggests that he could decide to make the switch to Scotland or across the Netherlands in the summer.
Celtic, if they win the race for his signature, have already found the dream replacement for Hart between the sticks as the Dutch giant has been in sublime form and could, possibly, arrive as an upgrade on the veteran Englishman.
Joe Hart's Celtic stats this season
The 36-year-old titan, who turns 37 next month, has kept ten clean sheets in 29 appearances for the Scottish giants in the Premiership so far this season.
Celtic won the league title in both of his first two years at the club, having joined from Tottenham Hotspur in the summer of 2021, and he will be hoping for a perfect treble before his retirement later this year.
Hart's performances in the league this season have improved in comparison to his displays under Ange Postecoglou during the 2022/23 campaign, which suggests that he is going out on a high this summer.
Appearances
37
29
Goals conceded per game
0.8
0.8
Save success rate
65%
69%
Saves per game
1.5
1.7
Aerial duel success rate
86%
100%
As you can see in the table above, the experienced stopper's save success rate, saves per game, and aerial duel success rate have all improved, whilst he has conceded the same number of goals per match on average.
This suggests that the Hoops defence has allowed more shots against his goal this time around, but he has stepped up to ensure that their mistakes have not impacted the team.
However, Hart did leave a bit to be desired with his underwhelming performances in the Champions League as he conceded 1.7 more goals than expected based on the post-shot xG value of the efforts against him in six appearances, which was also the case during the 2022/23 campaign.
In total, the ex-Manchester City star let in 6.5 more goals than expected in 19 European matches for Celtic over the last three seasons combined, which shows that the goalkeeper struggled with the quality of finishes in Europe.
Why Etienne Vaessen could be a dream Joe Hart replacement
The Hoops could now land a dream replacement for Hart by beating PSV to Vaessen's signature this summer, as the Dutch colossus has been in fantastic form this season.
Despite his side battling against relegation, the Celtic target has caught the eye with 4.0 saves per game and a Sofascore rating of 7.31 across 22 appearances in the Eredivisie.
He has prevented a staggering 4.67 more goals than expected based on the xG of the shots against him this season, which suggests that the 28-year-old star has consistently made high-quality saves against high-quality efforts.
Post-shot xG minus goals conceded
-0.28
+0.15
Percentage of crosses stopped
1.2%
7.9%
Defensive actions outside the penalty area
0.17
1.54
Average distance of defensive actions
5.9 yards
15.2 yards
Save success rate
60.5%
72.3%
As you can see in the table above, Vaessen has outperformed Hart in a number of key goalkeeping metrics throughout the 2023/24 campaign so far.
Not only has the potential free agent significantly outperformed the Englishman as a shot-stopper, the Waalwijk hero has also been terrific at sweeping up behind his defence and at commanding his box to relieve the pressure on his backline.
Vaessen has the quality to consistently come off his line to either clear the ball from danger outside of his box or to collect a cross to prevent the opposition from getting a shot away.
Whereas, Hart ranks within the bottom 1% of goalkeepers in the Champions League this season for defensive actions outside the penalty area per 90 and the percentage of crosses into the box stopped.
These statistics suggest that the Dutch ace, who is eight years younger than the former England international, would arrive as a significant upgrade on the current Celtic number one, should he translate his performances over to Glasgow.
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Therefore, Rodgers may have already found his dream replacement for Hart with this offer on the table to land Vaessen at the end of the season, and it is now down to the Eredivisie star to make a final decision on his future.