The potential return of Fraser Forster to Celtic has been in the news for months, and it was inevitable that things would come to a head eventually.
He was sensational last season and he showed what a difference it makes when you have a decisive and top class keeper in the team.
The problem is that this has now gone on for too long, and Celtic need to look after themselves and move on to secure alternative targets before it’s too late.
A recent update from The Daily Record has now suggested that Celtic are ready to give up on signing Forster this summer, as Neil Lennon has admitted that their hopes of bringing him back are gone.
“We’re disappointed with the Fraser issue. We’re talking to a couple of representatives of a couple of goalkeepers so hopefully we’ll have good news sooner rather than later on that.
“It’s kind of bizarre the way it’s panned out. The impression we got at the end was that he wanted to stay at Southampton and fight for his place, which, again, is the player’s prerogative.
“We were led to believe something else.
“There’s no more movement on it at the minute. We can’t keep leaving the door open. We have to make decisions. If it was to reverse tomorrow we’d go yeah, on you come, but we’re not getting any indication of that happening.”
There’s no suggestion that he’s agreed a deal to go anywhere else, but they do indicate that he was ready to commit to a return before pulling out, and Celtic aren’t prepared to wait around forever.
They go on to suggest that Celtic will now look at alternative targets like David Marshall or Vaclav Hladky, but it’s hard to say that won’t represent a downgrade.
Both are good keepers and you would feel confident that they won’t let you down, but Forster actually came up with game changing saves last season that made a huge difference – and those two might not be capable of playing at such a high level.
It now seems inevitable that several new names will be linked with the club over the next few weeks until a signing is actually made.
