Celtic goalkeeper Viljami Sinisalo
Celtic goalkeeper Viljami Sinisalo
Aston Villa sold goalkeeper Viljami Sinisalo to Scottish champions Celtic in the summer transfer window, after helping to develop the young Fin and having provided him with a series of fruitful loan spells.
Sinisalo, who is now 23, joined Villa's academy in 2018 and progressed through the youth system until he was sent out on loan moves to Ayr United, Burton Albion and, perhaps most significantly of all, Exeter City last season.
With the Grecians, he made 50 appearances and was routinely hailed for his performances and contribution by boss Gary Caldwell, who predicted after he left St James Park that Sinisalo would go on to have 'an incredible career'.
With Villa having signed Joe Gauci midway through last season, though, and the highly-rated Oliwier Zych making strides in the first-team environment, it was decided that Sinisalo would leave permanently in the summer.
A move to Celtic beckoned. While the Bhoys have the uber experienced Danish international Kasper Schmeichel in goal, it is expected in the coming years that a place in the Celtic starting XI will open up once Schmeichel decides to call time on his decorated playing career.
Schmeichel, though, recently injured his shoulder while on international duty with Denmark and it remains to be seen how long he'll be sidelined for. It meant that a place in the side opened up for Sinisalo this weekend as domestic football returned, and boss Brendan Rodgers had no qualms in throwing him in against Heart of Midlothian.
Celtic ran out comfortable 3-0 winners, meaning Sinisalo - whose only previous appearance for the Bhoys came in a 5-0 hammering of Raith Rovers in the Scottish Cup earlier this year - kept another clean sheet. Rodgers was impressed by his application.
“I thought he was excellent. I really like his authority. We’ve seen him as a young keeper that could come in, have a season investing in being an understudy, from learning from a top keeper and the mentality of a very top keeper, knowing that he wasn’t going to play so much.
“I’ve seen him grow from pre-season, where he was good in the games. He played a game here before, didn’t have a lot to do, but he was assured and you see him today, comes in, it’s a big game, Celtic vs Hearts. Makes the save, but important, he can take the ball and knows the lines of pass. I thought he was excellent, so really pleased for him and a clean sheet.”
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