Southampton boss Ralph Hasenhuttl has confirmed that Fraser Forster will be the club’s ‘cup goalkeeper’ after the Englishman recorded a clean sheet as The Saints put Arsenal out of the FA Cup. The Celtic goalkeeping target, who rejected the chance to return to The Scottish Champions in the summer, will get the opportunity to play some games over the course of the season but McCarthy will still be No.1.
Speaking to Hampshire Live, the Austrian said that Forster would be trusted to play in the competitions with McCarthy playing in the league.
“Forster deserves now to be our cup goalkeeper now, I think. He has helped us through to the next round and he has another clean sheet too – he is doing a fantastic job.
“We have two really good goalkeepers so there is no reason why I shouldn’t trust him again.
“The goalkeepers are getting better and better. They’re coming along really strongly and the praise goes to my goalkeeper coach and the good work that he does.”
It looks to finally confirm that Forster won’t be returning to Celtic this season. However, the player may look to reconsider this position next summer. Saints will likely be using the cup as an opportunity to sell Forster and get the big wage off of their wage budget.
Celtic have played three goalies since Forster left. Two players that trained with Forster last season – Scott Bain and Conor Hazard become a makeshift No.1s, replacing Vasilis Barkas who was meant to be the like-for-like replacement. The £4.5m arrival from AEK Athens was billed as Fraser Forster’s replacement but Barkas hasn’t settled at the club. He has struggled to make any positive impression and criticism has been planted at his door.