Most Celtic fans would have liked to have Fraser Forster back at Celtic on another loan spell from Southampton or even on a permanent basis, after a very impressive loan stint with the club in 2019/2020.
Ultimately, the English keeper did end up staying with Southampton though. And after not getting many chances at the start of the campaign, he finds himself back in the first-team picture once again.
Even then, he just has 6 appearances to his name this season. And he had the chance to return to Parkhead in the past summer, where he surely would have featured on a more consistent basis.
It does look like though that the plan on Forster’s end was always to show what he was capable of during his 2019/20 loan spell with The Hoops and then return to the Premier League side, and compete for a first-team spot. As reported by Hampshire Live, he told BBC Radio Solent:
"“I never said I wanted to leave the club. It was good to go to Celtic and play games and show people what I could do.“I came back in the summer and had always said that I wanted to be a part of the club. I’ve just had to be patient, to wait for my chance to come along and to get into the team.”"
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Celtic have missed having someone like Forster between the posts
After missing out on Forster, Celtic went out and signed Vasilis Barkas from AEK Athens on a reported £4.5 million transfer deal. It is safe to say that things have not quite worked out for the Greek international till now though.
Barkas has failed to find his feet ever since moving to Scotland and currently finds himself out of the first-team picture. As a result, goalkeeping has been a problem for the Hoops this season as none of the three available keepers have managed to nail down their spot as a regular starter.
Things would have surely been different if Forster was at the club though. He is someone who started on a regular basis when he was here and is a very dependable presence between the posts.
Would Celtic have won the league if Forster had decided to return? Probably not. But they are very likely to have been in a much better position.