Viljami Sinisalo has been used sparingly at Celtic by Brendan Rodgers.
The Celtic manager has chosen to consistently select Kasper Schmeichel as his number one at Parkhead and, to be fair, barring the Scottish Cup final mistake, the big Dane has been immense.
Superb performances in the Champions League as Celtic drew with Atalanta have proven that Rodgers was correct to stick with the 39-year-old goalkeeper.
However, waiting in the wings is young Viljami Sinisalo. The Finnish goalkeeper stepped in to cover for Schmeichel but was then axed for the Scottish Cup final despite impressing Celtic fans with his stand-in performances.
But the 24-year-old hasn’t been disheartened. In fact, it’s quite the opposite as Sinisalo shares his brilliant plan to become the new Celtic number one.
Photo by Emmanuele Ciancaglini/Ciancaphoto Studio/Getty ImagesViljami Sinisalo shares how he plans to take over from Kasper Schmeichel at Celtic
Sinisalo made eight appearances last season which included an impressive performance at Ibrox in Celtic’s draw with Rangers.
And it appears he wants more of that but is willing to be patient to become a regular Celtic first-team player.
Sinisalo told The Scottish Mail on Sunday, “Kasper has one year left on his contract. I have four. We are proceeding according to plan. I am 15 years younger than him.
“Hopefully next season I’ll get more minutes. I’ll just try to play as well as I can when the opportunity arises. We’ll see what happens.”
Viljami Sinisalo hails Kasper Schmeichel but targets Celtic first-team
Sinisalo’s relationship with Kasper Schmeichel at Celtic is well documented. Here the Finnish stopper reiterates his respect for the current Hoops number one but tells him he is also coming for his jersey.
“Kasper is an excellent guy,” continued Sinisalo, “He supported our team well and gave us tips when he was out with an injury. We are a good team together.
“Every footballer wants to play. However, I knew that in front of me was an experienced top goalkeeper who is, so to speak, coming to the end of his career.
“And that I am the young goalkeeper who is more of a project behind him. There must be some patience from me.
“But the plan is to be the first-choice goalkeeper at Celtic one day and hopefully that will open doors for me here on the national team as well.”
With pre-season less than four weeks away, Sinisalo will have plenty of time to show Rodgers that he can play a bigger part in Celtic’s success next season.