You’ll struggle to find a Celtic fan who doesn’t want the club to retain the services of Fraser Forster for years to come, but that will need a sizeable investment.
It seems logical to sell some fringe players to finance the move, but there are some important factors to consider there too.
Firstly that will presume that other clubs will have the resources to sign them, and it’s very important to not reduce the squad size too much.
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If everything goes to plan next year, Celtic will have a lengthy run in both cups and in Europe, while there should be this season’s Scottish cup campaign to finish too.
Glasgow Live looked at some comments from former Celtic player Charlie Nicholas in his Daily Record column, and he thinks they should sell the following three players to raise the money to sign Forster.
Olivier Ntcham – The Frenchman is clearly a very good player, but he might not have a starting role in the current set up. Scott Brown and Callum McGregor are first choice at the base of the midfield, while Tom Rogic and Ryan Christie may be better options to play in the number 10 role. Nicholas feels Ntcham won’t get enough game time to keep him happy, so he should be sold.
Boli Bolingoli – This would make more sense a week ago, as Nicholas acknowledges that he would have kept Jonny Hayes and sold the Belgian on instead. Realistically selling the Belgian full back would be a strange move, it would only leave Greg Taylor at left back and it’s clear Lenny doesn’t fully trust him, so that would just create another hole to be filled.
Vakoun Issouf Bayo – This one would make sense, he will barely get a look in when Odsonne Edouard and Leigh Griffiths are fit, and he’s not young enough to be regarded as a prospect either. Nicholas does say that they might struggle to get a good fee if they do sell him, but he does look like a player who could be expendable. This would also depend on how Lenny feels about Patryk Klimala – if the Polish striker has earned his trust then he and the returning Jonathan Afolabi could provide the depth options.
The main thing here is ensuring they do get a reasonable fee if they do sell anyone, so it will be interesting to see if any clubs have the money to strike a deal.