Celtic on red alert as Romanian goalkeeper Moldovan tells Atletico Madrid he wants to leave

HORATIU MOLDOVAN is back on Celtic’s radar with the goalkeeper looking to kick-start his career after becoming frozen out at Atletico Madrid.

The 26-year-old was strongly linked with Celtic in January as a Rapid Bucharest player but opted to move to the Spanish capital instead amid interest from clubs including Basel, Ludogorets, Real Betis and Sevilla.

But the Romanian’s hopes of taking Jan Oblak’s place in goal have been dashed with the Slovenian present for every game since he arrived.

Moldovan has made his displeasure at his situation clear - stating unequivocally that he wants out of the Spanish capital as soon as possible.

Celtic, who are urgently seeking a replacement for Joe Hart following his retirement, could offer him an escape route with unconfirmed reports in Spain claiming a bid had already been lodged.

Moldovan does appear to have burned his bridges with Diego Simeone with his comments on a podcast before the Euros making his position clear.

‘I want to leave Atletico Madrid in the summer or winter,’ he stated.

‘I don’t know if I’ll leave now. It depends on what opportunities arise. But I definitely want to leave and play.

‘If a good team from a big league presents itself to me, then I want to go.

‘We will see what offers appear. You can’t reject (the chance to play for Atletico). But I want to play.’

Moldovan was part of the Romania squad which reached the last 16 in Germany but was an unused substitute behind the veteran Florin Nita.

Brendan Rodgers has also been linked with Newcastle’s Martin Dubravka and Peter Vindahl Jensen of Sparta Prague in recent days.

Celtic’s play Queen’s Park in a friendly at The City Stadium on Wednesday before travelling to the USA where they’ll face D.C. United, Manchester City and Chelsea.