It is amazing what one result can do for the feeling around a club, as Celtic’s 4-0 win over Dundee United has lifted the cloud that had formed above Parkhead.
The end of Wilfried Nancy’s reign, Martin O’Neill’s return, and an impressive 4-0 win at home have provided the Hoops with a much-needed lift in the past week or so.
There could be more reasons for Celtic supporters to get excited for the future again, though, as the January transfer window is open for business and more new players could come through the door.
O’Neill has his feet under the table again this season and will have a say on the players that the Scottish Premiership giants add to their squad in the next few weeks.
Celtic eyeing move for Premier League star
Julian Araujo arrived on loan from Bournemouth as the first signing of the window under Nancy, and the club are reportedly looking to the Premier League again for another target.
According to TEAMtalk, Celtic are interested in a deal to sign Manchester City goalkeeper Stefan Ortega to potentially replace Kasper Schmeichel between the sticks, making him one of their leading targets for January.
The report claims that the Hoops are strongly considering a bid to sign the German shot-stopper on loan until the end of the season to bolster their squad.
It adds that the Cityzens star’s contract at The Etihad is due to expire in the summer, which means that they could sign him on loan before landing him on a free transfer later this year.
However, it remains to be seen whether or not City would sanction an initial loan for Ortega, or whether or not the player would be interested in a move to Celtic this month.
Why Ortega would be a Carter-Vickers repeat
The German ace has not made a single appearance in the 2025/26 campaign, per Sofascore, and has never played more than 22 games in a season in his three-and-a-half years in England.
This should not put Celtic off from signing him, though, because Cameron Carter-Vickers is a prime example that not making the grade at a top-end Premier League club does not mean that they are not good enough to be a star for the Hoops.
The USA international played two matches for Spurs at senior level before they decided to send the centre-back on loan to Celtic, which led to a permanent deal for £6m in 2022.
Carter-Vickers has racked up 172 appearances, scoring eight goals, in all competitions, per Transfermarkt, and won the Premiership title four times as a regular starter in the defence.
Ortega could follow a similar path because his statistics for Manchester City suggest that he has the potential to come in as a big upgrade on Kasper Schmeichel as the number one at Parkhead.
|
Schmeichel (25/26) |
SPL |
Europa League |
|---|---|---|
|
Save percentage |
68% |
67% |
|
Goals conceded |
19 |
11 |
|
Goals prevented |
-3.17 |
-1.58 |
|
Penalty save percentage |
0% |
N/A |
|
Error led to goal |
1 |
1 |
|
Clean sheets |
10 |
0 |
As you can see in the table above, Schmeichel has underperformed for Celtic as their first-choice in goal this season, conceding 4.75 more goals than expected based on the xG against him in the Premiership and the Europa League.
This essentially means that his shot-stopping has been way below average, based on the quality of shots against him, and that may be why the club are looking at Ortega as a potential replacement.
The 33-year-old stopper, dubbed “exceptional” by Pep Guardiola, has prevented 12.3 goals based on the post-shot xG against him in the Bundesliga and the Premier League since the start of the 2020/21 campaign, per FBref.
This shows that he is a consistently brilliant shot-stopper who can make big saves to keep his team in games, unlike Schmeichel on current form, but he was unable to establish himself as the first-choice for City because of occasional mistakes.
Ortega, per Sofascore, made one error that led to a shot and gave away a penalty in 13 appearances in the Premier League last term, which led to City signing Gianluigi Donnarumma and James Trafford last summer.
Schmeichel, though, is currently making big errors and struggling badly as a shot-stopper, which is why the German star could arrive at Parkhead as a big upgrade on him, by overperforming with his saves to prevent way more goals from being scored past the Hoops.
He wants to join: Celtic in talks to sign new winger who’s better than Ta Bi
Celtic are reportedly in talks to sign a forward who would be an even better signing than Jocelin Ta Bi.
Therefore, Ortega could follow in Carter-Vickers’ footsteps by initially joining on loan from a top six Premier League side before signing permanently later down the line to become a star at Parkhead for many years to come.
