Celtic have always had an array of top professionals at the club.
From my time as a youngster, Paul McStay was one player I absolutely worshipped.
The man was a genius with the ball at his feet.
For others, it may have been Peter Grant, Roy Aitken or even Andy Walker (yes, I am serious).
But rarely, and very rarely did I ever see a kid running about the park saying they wanted to be Pat Bonner, unless you were a goalkeeper.
It simply wasn’t done.
But England international Deana Henderson opened up on who he looked up to when he started out his career.
Dean Henderson appeared on Sky Sports Saturday Social and said [via HITC], “Growing up actually, when I became a goalkeeper, I think Joe Hart was.
“Just seeing him progress. I was still at Carlisle before I went to Manchester United and then seeing Joe do it, the way I wanted to do it.
“Then go out on loan and build his way up in Manchester City’s team. He was one of the best goalkeepers in the Premier League, at the time.
“Unbelievable for England. He was probably my idol growing up. When I went to Shrewsbury, he had affiliations with Shrewsbury and stuff like that.
“Then I managed to meet him and talked to him. And he was someone I looked up to.”
At that time, Hart was the number one between the Man City sticks and in his heyday, he was one of the best goalkeepers around.
With 75 caps for his country, Hart was the leading goalkeeper at his time and he has brought that same energy and enthusiasm he had back then to Celtic Park when he joined last summer.
Hart was an instant success at Celtic.
After a season of suffering goalkeeping nightmares before his arrival, the celebrations when he made this save against Jablonec last season just show you what the Celtic fans think of him:
📹 #CelticTV Unique Angle is back…with fans!
⚽️⚽️ @10DavidTurnbull
⚽️ James Forrest
👐 Joe Hart
💚 That unforgettable Paradise noiseIt's been a while Celts, enjoy!#CELFKJ #WelcomeHome pic.twitter.com/yg9jROqB4Q
— Celtic TV (@CelticTV) August 13, 2021
Hart is a great character to have around the club. It has been well documented that he is one of the top professionals at the club and who better is there for young Tobi Oluwayemi to learn from?