A report from the Evening Times has freshly revealed a clause in Fraser Forster’s loan deal from Southampton.
The big Englishman has been a revelation since returning to the club in the summer. He’s managed to play a big part in successes against the likes of Rangers, CFR Cluj, and Lazio (x2) respectively. Forster appears to be growing in confidence, and is getting key minutes under his belt.
The player himself admitted last month that he wouldn’t say no to a permanent deal (The Herald). But one of the biggest stumbling blocks was always going to be the transfer fee. Remember, Southampton splashed out £10million for his services (The Guardian).
But the Evening Times believes that a clause has been inserted into the deal that would allow Celtic to sign the Southampton man permanently. That suggests that a transfer fee can be agreed if it hasn’t been already.
The source also claims, however, that the player’s personal terms could prove to be a stumbling block in any potential deal.
Forster has hinted that he wants to stay
But Forster has already stated that he would be open to staying at Parkhead. Added to that, he’ll be fully aware of how much the Parkhead players receive in terms of wages. After all, he was a permanent one himself between 2010 and 2014.
It would certainly be worth Celtic’s time to try and get a deal done too. As things stand, we only have one senior goalkeeper currently contracted to the club next season in Scott Bain. Tying up Fraser would be a tremendous boost for the club.
Of course, it must be stressed that no fee has been reportedly agreed. In fact, Neil Lennon has previously claimed that it’s too early to discuss whether we can bring him back. He said last month that Celtic are a “long way off” getting a deal done (Daily Record).
But this reported clause is most certainly a boost for our hopes. Considering he’s nowhere near first choice at St Mary’s, that will hopefully help swing a deal in our favour this summer.
For now, however, the big man has to keep up his performance-levels ahead of a crucial time in the campaign.
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