Pierce Charles Should Be Celtic’s Number One Transfer Target

If Celtic are serious about building a team capable of competing in Europe, I think Pierce Charles should be right at the top of our transfer wishlist.

Goalkeeper has been a position of uncertainty for Celtic, and while Viljami Sinisalo deserves credit for stepping up, I still believe we need to think about the long-term future of the position.

Charles is exactly the type of player we should be looking at.

The Northern Ireland international caught the eye with Sheffield Wednesday last season, making 21 appearances across all competitions despite injury setbacks. His performances were enough to attract the attention of Manchester City, who brought him back to the club in the summer before sending him on loan to QPR for the 2026/27 season. .

That tells you something about the potential he has.

What particularly excites me about Charles is his ability with the ball at his feet. Former Northern Ireland goalkeeper and current Celtic coach Michael McGovern has praised his distribution, shot-stopping and ability to make important saves. McGovern even suggested he could become a real star.

For Celtic, that combination is important. We need a goalkeeper who can make the saves that keep us in games, but also someone comfortable receiving the ball under pressure and helping us build attacks from the back.

Too often, the goalkeeper position becomes a debate about who has made the fewest mistakes rather than who can genuinely elevate the team. I want Celtic to be more ambitious than that.

Of course, Charles is still young, and we cannot pretend he has already proven himself at the level Celtic should aspire to reach. There would be risks in bringing him in and immediately expecting him to become our undisputed number one.

But that is precisely why we should be planning ahead now rather than waiting until we have another goalkeeping crisis.

The complication is that Charles is currently on loan at QPR from Manchester City, where he is contracted until 2031. Any move would therefore depend on City’s plans for him and whether they would consider another loan or a permanent transfer.

Celtic would need to convince both the player and Manchester City that Parkhead is the right place for the next stage of his development.

I would be looking at a deal that gives us a realistic chance of securing him, whether that means negotiating a permanent move or exploring a loan with a clear pathway to regular first-team football.

We should not be signing a goalkeeper simply because he has potential. We should be signing someone who fits our style, can handle the pressure of playing for Celtic and has the ability to improve over the coming years.

Charles ticks enough of those boxes to make him a serious candidate.

For me, this is about more than replacing one goalkeeper with another. It is about identifying a player who could become a long-term asset rather than spending another transfer window reacting to problems we already knew existed.

Celtic need to get recruitment right, particularly in positions where one signing can make a massive difference to the entire team.

Pierce Charles should be on our shortlist, and if the opportunity arises to bring him to Celtic, I would want us pushing hard to make it happen.