Ex-Celtic striker Chris Sutton has warned Brendan Rodgers not to repeat the same mistake he made at Leicester by replacing his number-one goalkeeper.

There has been growing speculation about Joe Hart‘s future at the club in recent weeks, with Dinamo Zagreb’s Dominik Livakovic being tipped as a potential replacement.

The 28-year-old was first choice for Croatia as they made it to the World Cup semi-finals last year, but Sutton says he is wary of replacing Hart, who has proven that he can handle the pressure of being Celtic’s keeper:

“There’s been talk about Dominik Livakovic But the fact it hasn’t happened yet would lead me to believe it’s probably not going to. Rangers have (signed) Jack Butland, who will have a strong temperament and be calm. You need that if you play for Celtic or Rangers, so I wouldn’t be in a hurry to get Joe Hart out of the door. Brendan let (Kasper) Schmeichel go at Leicester and brought in (Danny) Ward, who is good with his feet. But Leicester ended up getting relegated.”

Livakovic is an experienced campaigner

While Sutton is right to be cautious, drawing comparisons to what happened with Schmeichel and Ward at Leicester is not really justified.

Unlike Ward, Livakovic has performed at the very highest level for both club and country so, if he were to join Celtic, he would not be overawed by the challenge.

Celtic may not be willing to match Livakovic’s asking price

While there is no doubting the Croatian international’s competency, there is less certainty about whether the Hoops would be prepared to splash the cash on him.

Dinamo are reportedly demanding at least £8m for Livakovic, which is a significant fee and, with Rodgers having recently stated that the club won’t be investing huge sums in individual signings, it’s hard to see the club’s board approving such a bid for a goalkeeper.