ALL is not lost for Celtic’s ambition to sign Fraser Forster from Southampton at an affordable price.
Yesterday it was reported that former England goalkeeper believed that Coronavirus had scuppered Celtic’s chances to sign Fraser Forster as the club wanted ‘£10 million’. However, this speculation may prove to be somewhat unfounded as the Saints manager and indeed their recently released accounts indicate that a pragmatic approach to transfers will be used when the summer transfer window opens.
Fraser Forster has enjoyed a spectacular return to form since returning ‘home’ to Celtic on loan from the south coast of England. But any potential move will be jeopardised by the wages that Forster is contracted to at St Mary’s. Since he returned, he has proven himself to be Celtic’s number one and has made some incredible performances for Neil Lennon’s side as they target more domestic success.
Forster is on a reported £70k-a-week and whilst he can sit out the remainder of his contract on the periphery of first team affairs with the Saints, he has already said he is keen to stay at Celtic. But can all parties make the numbers work?
Will Southampton sell him?
Back in February, the Athletic’s Southampton corespondent revealed that Saints boss Ralph Hasenhuttl and Fraser Forster were both keen to make the move permanent.
“This has been bubbling away for sometime now and Ralph hasn’t given many comments outside ‘It’s nice he’s doing well, but I’m not focused on him’.
“But my understanding is Forster is willing to take a pay cut to stay at Celtic, so the chances of him staying in Scotland are pretty good.”
The 32-year-old has two years left on his deal at St Marys and whilst he is still an asset, the club will be wanting to free-up the wages tied to their third choice keeper when they look to strengthen in the transfer window. Today, the Daily Echo reported that Hasenhuttl is aware that the market has changed and the value of players has dropped significantly.
“You have to remember that the players we want to sell will also be worth less money.
“It has an impact on every club and I think, in the end, when the transfers are starting, and you have some issues, you will do everything to get the player you want.”
Southampton are ready to ship out the players that the manager perceives as deadwood at the club in order to facilitate new signings being made.
Today, the Swiss Ramble on Twitter confirmed that Southampton had posted a £41m loss last year with £115m committed to wages.
The thread continued with managing director, Toby Steele commenting that the club had tried to sell more players but had failed.
#SaintsFC managing director Toby Steele explained, “This year we wanted to sell a few more players. The fact is we have five players out on loan that we couldn’t sell, but had we managed to do that before the end of the year, then that profit would have been perfect.”
— Swiss Ramble (@SwissRamble) April 29, 2020
The post-COVID19 financial implications on football is yet to be determined but the Southampton manager will know that it is a buyers market. The club have money to throw around but the practicalities are harder than that, Southampton will want Forster off their books as soon as possible and Celtic could get a bargain.
Can Celtic afford top wages?
Forster’s £70k at Southampton is out of the question. There isn’t a snowball’s chance in hell that Celtic would pay that money. But, Celtic recently lost the wages of Scotty Sinclair, one of the top earners and would, in theory, be able to offer Forster a wage package to make him one of the top earners. And another top earner – goalkeeper Craig Gordon – is coming to the end of his time at Celtic and that will free up some more resources.
Celtic are likely to be fairly dormant in the transfer window, perhaps with the odd outgoing with players leaving at the end of contracts meaning that any funds that were previously earmarked for transfers will be re-deployed into the club in an effort to battle coronavirus at a business level.
With that said, Celtic’s commercial position is a strong one – a record breaking Adidas deal was confirmed prior to the pandemic taking hold of society.
Forster would be a major boost for Celtic in the quest for continued success next season (whenever that may be) and exemplified his worth to the club with performances this season.
If Celtic can get a deal to sign Forster for as minimal a transfer fee as possible, then it is up to the Englishman to decide if he wants to return to Scotland – which by his comments in the past, is obvious.
Neil Lennon spoke after the Fraser Forster cup final in December and said he would love to sign Forster but that it was up to the player and Southampton.
“Again, it’s affordability. I’ll talk to the player, but first we have to make the call to Southampton. Is it beyond us? I don’t know.
“Would I love to do it? Of course, but we have to be realistic at times and we can’t go overboard either. We have to be prudent, but we have him right now and it’s fantastic because he’s definitely made us better.”
Forster is a top keeper, Neil Lennon will know that and the Englishman knows all about Celtic. A deal should be the priority at Celtic Park once Coronavirus eases and we have an idea about the new season.
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