It looks like Southampton are opening to letting Fraser Forster go to Celtic but they want a highly-rated Celtic star in exchange.
It is no secret that Neil Lennon will be delighted to have Fraser Forster back at Celtic next season. The English keeper returned to Parkhead last season after a couple of incredibly poor seasons at Southampton and managed to reestablish himself as the number one at the club. But with his loan deal now up, he is set to return to St Mary’s with his future up in the air.
Although Celtic are interested in bringing him back on a permanent deal, it is unrealistic to expect them to pay the amount of money that Southampton appear to be asking for – £10 million. As a result, they might very well walk away from the deal due to being priced out, especially with the global pandemic causing havoc financially for clubs around the world.
But as reported by the Daily Mail, it looks like Southampton are looking to tempt Celtic into making a deal with them by providing Olivier Ntcham as part of a deal which will see Forster going the other way. It will be interesting to see what The Hoops fans think of the deal.
Ntcham was a huge part of Neil Lennon’s plans last season and the club will be in no hurry to let him go. And at just 24 years of age, he is expected to command a much higher fee than the 32-year-old Forster in the transfer market. Of course, Southampton are expected to offer money as well as the keeper.
Letting Ntcham go could leave Celtic painfully thin in the middle of the park and as a result they must think twice before making any deal. The best way for them to go would be to try and agree a straight fee for Forster with Southampton or just look at more realistic options if the Premier League club decide to play hard ball for a player who they clearly have no future plans for.