Selling Artur Boruc.

Let’s forget for a moment about our horrific performance in the last friendly and talk about something more pleasant. And what can be more joyful than transfer speculation? Artur Boruc is slowly becoming a too big fish for the Celtic’s pond and the press is using this opportunity to sell him to various European teams.

Artur himself adds fuel to fire when he openly states that he would like to try something new. I don’t blame him, he’s won everything he could with Celtic and he needs a new challenge. It was clearly visible during the Champions League’s round of sixteen that the Celts can’t compete with the top European clubs. It was also clearly visible that Boruc is good enough to play for those top European clubs.

The oldest transfer rumours concerning Boruc are those about an interest from Arsenal, Tottenham and Milan. The most outdated, of course, is the one that Arsene Wenger wants to bring the ‘Holy Goalie’ to London. Manuel Almunia is having a decent season and I don’t think the Arsenal management is looking for his replacement. Jens Lehmann is leaving at the end of the season but the Gunners already have a great prospect as his successor: Lukasz Fabianski. Fabian is heralded as one of the most talented goalies in Europe and, sooner or later, he’ll be given a chance in the first team. He’s already receiving great reviews from the Arsenal’s goalkeeper coaches. The Tottenham rumour seems to be the one that is circulating rather among the fans than in the press. The thing is that Juande Ramos desperately needs a new keeper, Paul Robinson has been crap this season and Radek Cerny didn’t make the most of his chance to replace him. As far as I’m concerned, this is the best option for Boruc; a rich team with big potential, a great manager and a huge fanbase. And they are playing in Europe next season. Milan is also always shorlisted as a potential destination for Artie. First of all, because they know what he’s capable of (he almost single-handedly stopped their CL run last year). Secondly, they’re the only top European team with a really shitty goalie- Dida. It seems obvious that they’re going to buy a new nr 1 for next season, however they’re concentrating on the Italian market; they’re desperate to land Sebastian Frey from Fiorentina.

Now, for the newest rumours. More than a week ago Daily Record wrote that Bayern Munich are ready to pay £10M for the Celtic legend. Well, it all looks quite logical, Oliver Kahn won’t scare us anymore in the next season so the German giants will need a new, classy goalie. However, the guys at the Daily Record didn’t know that Michael Rensing is already lined up as Kahn’s replacement. Rensing was promised a one-season chance by Uli Hoeness, so the Boruc’s Bayern rumour was quickly denied by the German officials. I think that the whole idea of Bayern’s interest stems from Lukas Podolski’s opinion that he would like to play with Artur in the same team someday. That’s not enough to make the info valid. The latest club reported to be interested in the Polish nr 1 is Aston Villa. The rumour looks very nice, Scott Carson is returning to Liverpool at the end of the season and Thomas Soerensen is unsettled at the Villa Park. Martin O’Neill is a former Celtic manager so he is probably scouting the SPL on everyday basis. Moreover, he’s already purchased Stilian Petrov and Shaun Maloney from Celtic. There haven’t been any denial on Aston Villa’s side yet. I think that it would be a good choice for Boruc; under O’Neill Villa is becoming better and better with every season. As the transfer to one of the European powerhouses is unlikely to happen Boruc should consider offers from the mid-table teams with a view to improve, just like Tottenham or Aston Villa. What do you reckon?