Alan Hutton believes that Celtic may be working on a surprise new deal for Craig Gordon.
The veteran goalkeeper has had limited first team opportunities of late due to the form of Fraser Forster, who joined the club on loan from Southampton.
Forster has since gone back to the Saints, and while reports suggest that he may yet return to Celtic Park, it leaves Gordon as the current first choice goalkeeper.
Gordon is out of contract this summer, but while the club announced that Jonny Hayes and Jozo Simunovic were to leave at the end of their deals, the veteran stopper was not mentioned.
This has led Hutton, who famously played for arch rivals Rangers, to speculate as to whether a new deal could be in the offing.
Speaking to Football Insider, Hutton said: "It’s a bit of a strange situation, he’s had to take a back seat since Forster’s come back in and been one of their main players.
“He’s obviously older now and it’s a decision he’s obviously going to have to make – does he want to go into the coaching side of it or does he want to keep playing? He’s obviously had some bad injuries through his career and missed some time.
“At the end of the day, Forster’s not a given to be signed, they’re going to want a lot of money for him so there’s still an opportunity to play there if the deal for Forster can’t go through.
“You wonder if there’s something in the pipeline there, you wonder if there are some ongoing talks or they’re thrashing something out to understand the future of the goalkeeping situation.”
GIVEMESPORT'S Phil Spencer says...
I'd love to see Craig Gordon handed a new deal with Celtic.
While he may be in the closing stages of his playing career, the experienced goalkeeper still has plenty to offer at first team level.
In addition to that, Gordon may have aspirations going into coaching and if he combine playing with learning from Neil Lennon and his team then it could be a great move for the stopper.
He'll certainly have plenty to offer the academy set-up and this could be the perfect solution for all involved.