Scott Brown makes bold claim about Celtic transfer plans

Celtic skipper Scott Brown has taken the high road in a recent interview defending Scott Bain as Forster’s potential replacement.

Speaking with the Scottish Sun on Sunday, the veteran Celtic midfielder defended teammate Scott Bain to reclaim his previous position as the first team keeper.

Expressing confidence in his team’s keeper…

"“We’d trust Bainy to do the business, definitely… [he] never lets anyone down and I’m sure he’ll step up if he plays this week, the next or whenever. He’s a top goalkeeper, he is very composed with the ball at his feet and he’s a shot stopper… I’m sure he will be pushing himself regardless of whether someone else comes in or not to try to focus on getting that No 1 jersey.”"

While it’s obviously right of Brown to defend his teammate, Celtic could definitely use a better veteran presence in the net for their quest for a tenth-straight title next season. Even in the unlikely event that Bain is to be the first-team keeper next season, depth is needed at the position with Craig Gordon also departing the club.

The 28-year-old Scottish keeper made seven appearances in all play this past season behind Fraser Forster, including five in European play. In these seven appearances, opponents netted past him nine times. He did, however, manage clean sheets in both of his league starts.

With a 1-1 draw to Nice and a 2-1 defeat to Lyon thus far in preseason play, Bain has had some reasonable performances against talented clubs. The true test of his caliber will remain to be seen when the side faces Paris St. Germain on Tuesday.

Forster, on the other hand, averaged a league-best (minimum 15 matches) 0.61 goals against per 90 minutes played, with a clean-sheet in 50% of his matches, tying for the league-best of 14 clean sheets.

With Fraser Forster opting to return to Southampton next season to attempt to push out Alex McCarthy as the first-team keeper, it looks as if a return to Parkhead is all but gone now. That’s not to say it can’t happen, as the current keeper-to-beat at his side has been in top form lately in Premier League play since the restart, which could potentially force Fraser back to Glasgow.

In the meantime, the club has been looking for a replacement, with veteran English keeper Joe Hart rumored to be a target of late.