Celtic have not made much of an impact on the transfer market till now but Neil Lennon has hinted that the club is closing in on a new signing.
A transfer bombshell was dropped on Celtic a few weeks earlier when news broke out that Fraser Forster was not interested in a return to Parkhead as he wanted to fight for his place at Southampton. That is exactly opposite of what the club would have though considering the face that he had spent the past several seasons rotting on the bench their before reviving his career last season while on loan with the Hoops.
Originally it was believed that agreeing a deal with Southampton would be the harder part but now it appears that staying on in the Premier League is more important to Forster than being a part of Celtic’s 10-in-a-row campaign. As a result, Celtic will have to turn their attention elsewhere and a few targets have been linked with the club on numerous occasions.
As expected, Neil Lennon appeared disappointed with Forster’s decision not to return but has assured fans that the club are closing on signing a replacement. As reported by The Scottish Sun, he said:
"“We’re talking to representatives of a couple of goalkeepers so hopefully we’ll have good news sooner rather than later on that.“We’re disappointed with the Fraser issue. It’s kind of bizarre the way it’s panned out.“The impression we got was that he wanted to stay at Southampton and fight for his place, which is the player’s prerogative. But we had been led to believe something else.”"
It is safe to say that Celtic fans have not been too impressed with the players who have been linked with club though. Joe Hart is without doubt a Premier League legend but has been out of sorts since Pep Guardiola banished him from Manchester City. David Marshall on the other hand can only be described as a journeyman.
Vasilios Barkas is perhaps the one that Celtic fans would prefer but considering that he is only 26 years of age and a full Greek international, he is expected to come at a premium price. It is to be seen whether the board will shell out big money though or go with a free agent like Hart.