CELTIC have been tasked with finding a replacement for Joe Hart in the summer with the veteran stopper retiring at the end of the season.
Scouts have been keeping tabs on targets from across Europe and there’s been some names suggested in the past few weeks.
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But they would have been in for a shock if they were watching one of their main targets in action over the weekend.
SunSport told you earlier this year how Liverpool’s Caoimhim Kelleher was high on Brendan Rodgers’ shortlist and the Hoops enquired about the Republic of Ireland stopper in January.
Real Madrid‘s Andriy Lunin has also been touted, but a move for either player now looks unlikely given their recent rise in their respective first teams.
But another target emerged at the end of last month, just days after current No1 Hart announced his plans for the end of the campaign.
Highly-rated Turkish international Ugurcan Cakır is reportedly on the club’s radar after catching the eyes of scouts with his impressive displays for Trabzonspor.
He has been capped 26 times by Turkey and has previously led his team to Super Lig and Turkish Cup glory.
The Trabzonspor captain was named as the keeper with the highest save percentage in Europe two years ago and was linked last year with a move to Southampton, which fell through.
He was previously linked with moves to Liverpool and Borussia Dortmund as back-ups.
With three years left on his current deal, it’s believed that a move for him won’t come cheap.
But scouts may have lost their interest, after seeing the howler he was involved in this week.
The bizarre incident occurred during Trabzonspor’s league match Alanyaspor on Monday.
Alanyaspor were 1-0 up at the time when the visitors were awarded a free-kick in their own box, which Cakir stepped up to take.
He had options at either side for a simple pass and he opted to give it to former Ajax, Bologna and Club Brugge defender Stefano Denswil – who clearly wasn’t ready to receive it.
But the set-piece came as a surprise for the ex-Dutch youth international, who stood and watched the ball trickle past him, with Oguz Aydin scoring into an empty net.
The game was shown on live TV via beIN SPORTS and the clip of the goal has since gone viral.
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While Denswil seemed to be fault for it, Turkish footie fans have taken aim at the Celtic-linked stopper, asking what he was thinking with the pass.
“Is this Ugurcan broken? Where is he kicking?”, asked one puzzled fan on social media,
Someone else commented: “How did this happen. It can’t be real?”
Another asked: “How is this guy in our national team?”
While a fourth wrote: “What is Ugurcan doing? Get him straight out of the squad.”
It may seem like an isolated incident and one that would only happen in a blue moon.
But it doesn’t look like it’s the first time as some have suggested that similar moments have stopped him from earning his big move away from Turkey in recent years.
One said: “This is why he’s never got his big move top the Premier League or Serie A.”
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Another added: “No wonder he’s still at Trabzonspor.”
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