Why Celtic’s new transfer target could be their best signing since Kuhn

It is fair to say that Celtic‘s recruitment has not gone exactly to plan in recent seasons as too many players have arrived and failed to make an impact at Parkhead.

Michel-Ange Balikwisha, for example, joined the Hoops from Royal Antwerp last year for around £5m and only played seven times in the Scottish Premiership in the 2025/26 campaign.

In the January transfer window, Junior Adamu and Tomas Cvancara both arrived as centre-forward options and combined for one non-penalty goal in the league in the second half of the season.

Whilst Benjamin Nygren, who scored 16 league goals last term, was a successful addition, the Scottish giants are still looking for their best piece of business since they brought Nicolas Kuhn in from Como.

Celtic pursuing deal to sign European giant

The club signed the German forward from Rapid Vienna for a fee of £3m in January 2024, and he went on to score 24 goals and provide 18 assists in 69 appearances in all competitions before being sold to Como for £16.5m.

Now, the club are looking at a player at the other end of the pitch who could end up being their best signing since they swooped to bring Kuhn to Parkhead over two years ago.

According to German outlet Wolfsburger Allgemeine Zeitung, as relayed by the Glasgow Times, Celtic are one of a number of clubs interested in signing Hertha Berlin goalkeeper Tjark Ernst.

Martin O’Neill is lining up a potential swoop for the 6 foot 4 shot-stopper as a replacement for Kasper Schmeichel, who retired at the end of the 2025/26 campaign.

The report claims that Dutch giants Ajax are also in the race for his signature, whilst the Scottish giants also have an eye on LKS Lodz goalkeeper Aleksander Bobek as a possible alternative.

A fresh update has also revealed that Wolfsburg are pushing to reach an agreement with Hertha Berlin, but they are yet to get the green light from the player, which has left the door open for other teams.

Celtic’s best signing since Nicolas Kuhn

If the Hoops can convince Ernst to reject Wolfsburg and Ajax to make the move to Glasgow, the 23-year-old star could become the club’s best signing since they played a masterstroke with Kuhn.

Whilst the £16.5m-rated winger was such a good signing because of the constant impact that he made at the top end of the pitch for the Scottish giants, the Hertha Berlin stopper could be an exceptional addition because of what he can offer at the other end of the field.

Schmeichel, as he was coming to the end of his career and suffering from injuries, struggled in the Premiership last season, conceding 2.96 more goals than expected based on the xG of the shots against him.

Ernst, meanwhile, prevented the best part of nine more goals than he was expected to in the 2. Bundesliga for Hertha Berlin, which shows that he consistently made exceptional saves to bail his side out.

The 6 foot 4 giant, who did not make the Germany squad for the World Cup, also rarely made errors between the sticks, with no errors that directly led to goals.

His shot-stopping statistics, in particular, are what suggest that he could be one of the best signings Celtic have made in years, and possibly their best since Kuhn, because he has the potential to have a huge impact on the pitch.

Essentially, Ernst prevented 11.62 more goals than Schmeichel at league level. If you took away 12 of the goals that Celtic conceded in the Premiership last term, they would have conceded 23 goals — five fewer than any other team.

Whilst it is not an exact science like that, it does help to understand the kind of impact that the German stopper could have if he carries his performances over to Scottish football.

No Celtic goalkeeper, since the data was introduced in the 2020/21 campaign, has prevented as many goals as Ernst managed for Hertha Berlin last term, which speaks to the level of quality that they could bring in by signing him.

Therefore, the Scottish giants should be pushing to convince him to make the move to Parkhead in the coming days, as he has the potential to be the club’s best signing since Kuhn with the difference that he could make on the pitch with his shot-stopping skills.