Celtic are looking to sign AFC Bournemouth and Republic of Ireland international star this summer.
The Scottish champions must find a goalkeeper following the retirement of former England goalie Joe Hart.
According to The Irish Sun, Celtic manager Brendan Rogers is interested in Travers’ international teammate Caoimhím Kellleher. However, due to Liverpool’s asking price of over £15 million, Celtic have considered Travers as a more cheap and practical option.
https://livematchnews.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2024/06/9b63be19-5530-4905-941f-2f29bafe13cb.jpg
Travers made his Premier League debut as a teenager under former manager Eddie Howe near the end of the 2018/19 season, but his only season as first-choice shot-stopper came under former head coach Scott Parker, when AFC Bournemouth won promotion from the Championship as runners-up. Travers received several end-of-season player honors for his performances that season, including the EFL Championship golden glove.
He has 77 appearances in all competitions for AFC Bournemouth, including 19 in the Premier League, after being second choice behind Neto previous season.
It is unclear what the future holds for Travers at Dean Court; Darren Randolph has already been released, and Radu’s loan spell has ended, leaving the Cherries with Neto, Travers, and newly signed Alex Paulsen from Australian A-League side Wellington Phoenix as their goalkeepers.
The same story goes on to say that AFC Bournemouth head coach “Andoni Iraola is looking to bring in a keeper and is willing to let the Ireland international go at the right price to make room for the new arrival.”
However, AFC Bournemouth have reportedly put a £10 million price tag for the 25-year-old, which is “likely to push Travers beyond (Celtic’s) reach”.
There are also speculations that Crystal Palace may be monitoring the situation. “the London club is also likely to baulk at that fee for a player who has relatively limited top-flight experience.”
Your say…
thegazzyb said…
Travers hasn’t had much experience with the team at this level. However, the fact that we keep choosing others over him implies that he has not staked a claim to the top spot in training in all this time.
I would have believed that if he truly had the potential to be a good goalkeeper, he would have demonstrated it to everyone at AFCB by now and been our unquestioned number one for a while.
Neto has demonstrated an unacceptable level of inconsistency for a goalkeeper at this level, in my opinion. Very strong spells, followed by horrible spells. He also appears to be emotionally too fragile to be anyone’s number one.
Travs needs to start his career. If it doesn’t happen here next season, I anticipate him to go on.
Personally, I’d be pleased to keep him as someone’s number two, but would he be willing to accept it?