Scotsman journalist Andrew Smith has claimed that Celtic are still “mystified” by Fraser Forster’s summer snub, and believes the player was holding out for a move to Chelsea.
The Hoops seemed to wait for Forster for months after the season was called to a halt, only for the player to end up staying at Southampton whilst Celtic signed Vasilis Barkas.
Since then, Forster has rotted on the Saints bench whilst Barkas has failed to look convincing. With Scott Bain also letting in an eye-watering 17 goals in seven games this season (Transfermarkt), Celtic have had a major problem in trying to replace the England international.
But Scotsman reporter Smith believes an evenue has now opened for Celtic to sign Fraser given the player’s summer hopes have now been dashed. Speaking in his newspaper, he said: “It still mystifies those inside Celtic that the 32-year-old declined another tour of duty with them when his eye-popping £92,000-a-week salary was guaranteed to keep flowing in to his bank account from his parent club.
“It is believed Forster felt there was a chance Chelsea would snap him up for an understudy role. That ship has now sailed, as has any sense Ralph Hasenhüttl considers the former Celtic man a strong rival to his No.1 Alex McCarthy. Forster hasn’t played a minute of competitive action this season, not even when Brentford rolled around in the League Cup.
“The hulking keeper might then be far more open to a move that would practically guarantee him concerted game time for the next five months.”
Difficult not to ask the question
This perhaps comes down to how strongly you value your morals. If Forster rejected Celtic in the summer for example, then why on earth should we go in for him again? Should players be given the opportunity to come to Celtic twice if they said no the first time?
These are valid questions and many will hold a stubbornness in their heart that would make a Forster return difficult to swallow for them. However, looking at the rapid rate of goals Celtic are conceding and you wonder whether it would be worth asking Saints their thoughts on letting him come back.
If things stay as they are, Rangers will stop 10-in-a-row. That pains me to say it, but it’s what will happen. They’ll stop it because our defence is far too leaky and our goalkeepers don’t look capable of pulling off an eye-catching save.
We’ve now given Barkas almost half a year now to get to grips with Scotland. He’s had a consistent run of games to get out of his slump whilst he’s even been given some time out of the side to get used to the country. Granted, you wonder just how much settling in he could’ve been able to do with the current health guidelines in place.
But even so, Barkas has had more than enough opportunities, and the fact he’s now gone give months or so without making a fantastic save is a huge problem for us. It’s not one we can take into 2021.
So if Southampton are willing, there could be a deal to be struck yet. With Chelsea having signed Edouard Mendy from Rennes in the summer, there’s no real options on the table for Fraser just now. It would be interesting to hear his thoughts on this as January creeps up on us.
In other news, Leigh Griffiths has touched on the injury process that saw him miss the club’s last three games.
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