Plymouth Argyle should act quickly to sort situation of ex-Celtic player | OneFootball

Plymouth Argyle should act quickly to ensure they have tied former Celtic goalkeeper Conor Hazard down to a new deal.

Smart clubs will have been planning for the January transfer window months ago and they will have been planning for next summer some time before that, and Plymouth Argyle already have some decisions to make quickly ahead of next summer.

The Pilgrims suffered relegation from the Championship last season before the tumultuous departure of manager Miron Muslic to Schalke over this summer.

Muslic’s departure was followed by a raft of first-teamers being sold by the club and that perhaps allowed for Plymouth to take their eye off the ball in terms of players running down their contracts, such as Conor Hazard.

With Tom Cleverley brought in and a major recruitment drive required to amend what was a woeful start to the campaign, Plymouth have left themselves with a few decisions to make on the rest of the squad.

Having pushed his way back into the eleven, it is now imperative that Plymouth tie former Celtic goalkeeper Conor Hazard down to a new contract, with his current deal due to expire in the summer of

2026.

Conor Hazard should now remain ahead of Luca Ashby-Hammond

Having been injured in the opening month or so of the campaign, former Celtic goalkeeper Conor Hazard returned to full fitness a few weeks ago but spent a game on the bench behind on-loan Luca Ashby-Hammond.

The Fulham loanee, who has previously been on loan at Notts County and Gillingham, was the surprise candidate to become Argyle’s first-choice goalkeeper from the start of this season.

However, the 24-year-old former England youth international has now been dropped to the bench after allowing 1.2 goals more than he should have done according to FotMob, with the 18 goals he has conceded the third most of any goalkeeper in League One.

Hazard made his return to the side as part of a Plymouth side that dispatched of Burton Albion by four goals to nil at the Pirelli Stadium; which was just their third clean sheet of the season and first since mid-August.

That was backed up by the Northern Irishman then making three crucial saves in a 1-1 draw against Wigan Athletic at Home Park a few weeks’ later.

A gamble was taken on Ashby-Hammond in the absence of Hazard but the latter has now returned and already shown a fair bit more competence to ensure he remains trusted by Cleverley between the sticks.

Plymouth should seek to tie Conor Hazard down

Having joined from Celtic in the summer of 2023, Conor Hazard has gone on to make 54 appearances for the club and finally established himself as their out and out number one in the side with a run in the team in the second-half of last season under the management of Muslic.

Hazard put in some excellent performances last year and will be expected to return to being a key man from here on out, having been handed the captain’s armband for the two games in which he has taken to the field.

At the age of 27, Hazard is now finally maturing into the goalkeeper of promise and potential that he was at Celtic, after loan moves to Falkirk, Partick Thistle, Dundee and HJK Helsinki.

Hazard is one of the key players out of contract in Devon next summer and Argyle should be acting swiftly to try and tie him down to a new deal.

First of all, it is crucial for them to try and protect his value given his age and recent rapid development and so a fee for him could end up being reasonably hefty; and Plymouth have had success with the sale of a goalkeeper, such as Michael Cooper to Sheffield United.

Secondly, even if Hazard wasn’t to be sold on and his value didn’t need protecting, it would mean that Plymouth have got a very solid, still improving goalkeeper on a good contract and, as Plymouth have found in the signing of Luca Ashby-Hammond, it is difficult for League One clubs to identify and sign talent for that position.

Plymouth have a few decisions to make as they try and return to the Championship at the first attempt but towards the top of their list should be ensuring they keep Conor Hazard.