Opinion: Celtic talent in close title race is doing well on loan

With so many leagues around Europe coming to an end in the last few weeks, it should be remembered that in some countries the league is far from over, and that is the case in Finland, where Celtic goalkeeper Conor Hazard is currently playing for HJK Helsinki.

The 24-year-old is on loan in Finland until January 2023, and he seems to be performing quite well, as in 10 games he has conceded 10 goals, keeping four clean sheets.

As it stands his team are currently joint top of the Finnish top flight, but have played a game more than league leaders KuPS.

Hazard will be happy to be playing regular football at the moment, as that wasn’t going to happen at Celtic, where Joe Hart is the first choice goalkeeper with Scott Bain his understudy.

Celtic boss Ange Postecoglou will presumably be receiving reports on how Hazard is faring in Finland, and it will be interesting to see what happens when his loan deal ends in January. You have to think that unless something dramatically changes Hazard will once more struggle to get first-team minutes at Celtic Park.

That will likely be the case even if Vasilis Barkas moves on from Celtic Park in the summer, as there will still be two goalkeepers ahead of Hazard in the pecking order.

All Hazard can do at the moment is keep playing football, and try to help his current side win the league, and then see what happens once his loan deal is over.

If Hazard does eventually leave Celtic, he will be remembered for one big moment, when he saved two penalties against Hearts in the Scottish Cup Final shootout to ensure that the Bhoys won a fourth consecutive domestic treble.

Those penalty saves took a lot of guts and bravery, and Hazard deserves a lot of credit for helping the Hoops make a bit of