Celtic sign former Crystal Palace midfielder McCarthy

Former Crystal Palace midfielder James McCarthy has signed for Celtic on a four year contract while Premier League winning keeper Joe Hart has also joined from Tottenham.

Republic of Ireland international McCarthy joined as a free agent after allowing his contract to run down at Selhurst Park.

Celtic is the Glasgow-born 30-year old’s boyhood club and will represent a dream move for the player who started out at Hamilton Academical as a 16-year old before moving to Wigan and Everton.

McCarthy, who made 52 appearances for Palace, has been undergoing medical tests over recent days ahead of agreeing his deal today.

He was quickly joined at Celtic by Hart, who passed a medical and agreed a three year contract after the Glasgow club struck a deal with Tottenham.

Hart made 10 appearances in all competitions for Spurs in one season at the club following spells with Burnley and Torino after a long, trophy-laden spell as Manchester City’s No 1 which included two Premier League titles and an FA Cup.

Celtic want the experienced Hart to travel for their Europa League tie against FC Jablonec in the Czech Republic on Thursday.

Meanwhile, McCarthy will not travel with Celtic to the Czech Republic but will train on his own until his team-mates team comes back from their European trip.

The two signings are a huge boost to Celtic coach Ange Postecoglou, who has got off to a rough start at Parkhead after his side were knocked out of the Champions League qualifying stage and then beaten 2-1 at Hearts in their first game of the new Scottish Premiership season.

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Australian Postecoglou told the club’s website: ‘I’m delighted that we have signed two top-class players in Joe and James. Both of them have a wealth of experience at both club and international level, and that is something which can only benefit the squad, and I’m looking forward to working with both of them.