Celtic have faced some stumbling block in terms of signing players, and they are still in the market to do some last-minute shopping. An injury to Scott Bain earlier pushed the club to go after their former goalkeeper Fraser Forster who had been out of favour at Southampton.
The Hoops have got him on a season-long loan, and it remains to be seen whether he will straightaway become the no. 1 choice in goal.
Forster meanwhile has revealed (The Scottish Sun) that he is open to a permanent switch to Celtic Park after his loan spell expires. Maybe the Englishman is well aware that he wouldn’t get any first-team chances at the St. Mary’s as Hasenhuttl has two decent options in the form of Angus Gunn and Alex McCarthy.
Forster on a permanent move
The 31-year-old recently said, ”Yeah, definitely. I’d never, ever rule that out (permanent move). Obviously, I just want to concentrate week-by-week, to begin with. But if we have a great year, it would come down to the two clubs working it out somehow. This is a fantastic place to play, and even when I left, I hoped one day I’d come back. It would be a fantastic thing if that could happen.”
What should Lennon do?
Celtic will have massive competition for places in goal once Bain becomes fit and Lennon will have to make a big call. Amid all this, Gordon might feel hard done by as the signing of Forster showcases that the manager doesn’t trust him to be no. 1 anymore.
Forster has been in a bit of a limbo at Southampton in the past few years. He made just one appearance in the Premier League last season, and he was ousted from the team somewhere around the 17-18 season as he became more error-prone. Therefore it should be interesting to see whether he would be able to get his form back.
Forster is still 31, and it’s quite clear that he loves the club. A permanent transfer would definitely come into the picture as even Southampton might want to offload him next season. We think that Celtic should wait and see how the English goalkeeper goes about his business first before making any commitment of a permanent transfer.
Forster has looked a bit stiff in goal in the past year, and he will have to get up to pace if he wants to establish himself at Celtic again. A permanent move for him is likely to be on the cards though as Gordon is in the final year of his contract.
