Celtic grant Scott Bain’s request as Ross Doohan lined up as replacement

As per The Herald, with just a year remaining on his contract, Brendan Rodgers’ side have decided to terminate the agreement early, allowing the 33-year-old to move on from the club this summer.

Since joining in 2018, Bain has featured 69 times for Celtic, with his most recent outing coming in a 3-2 victory against St Mirren on Trophy Day in May last year.

Currently behind Kasper Schmeichel and Viljami Sinisalo in the pecking order, the 33-year-old is set to pursue regular first-team action at a new club.

The Celtic Star first reported on 5 May that the Hoops plan to bring in Aberdeen free agent Ross Doohan as a replacement for the former Scotland international.

UEFA rules require clubs to include eight homegrown Scottish players in their Champions League squads, with at least four developed through the club’s own academy. Doohan, a product of Celtic’s Lennoxtown setup, was with the club for seven years from 2015 to 2022.

The 27-year-old served as backup to first-choice Dons hero Dimitar Mitov at Hampden, remaining on the bench as Aberdeen lifted the Scottish Cup for the first time in 35 years.

Celtic could have went down the path of making an academy homegrown goalkeeper such as Aidan Rice their third choice shotstopper but have surprisingly opted to sign Doohan instead.

Meanwhile, David Strelec’s agent has stated that there are no updates at this time regarding Celtic’s reported interest in the Slovan Bratislava forward.

Scouted back in January, the 24-year-old is anticipated to depart Slovakia during the upcoming summer transfer window, with Rodgers reportedly eyeing the in-demand striker as a potential summer addition.

Responding to the speculation, agent Michal Cierny remarked: “It’s just rumours at the moment. There is no concrete offer on the table from Celtic.”

Conor Spence