Tottenham Hotspur manager Antonio Conte has said that seeing Fraser Forster perform for Celtic prompted him to move for the former England Internationalist this summer. The 34-year-old joined on a free transfer after his deal with Southampton expired. The shrewd Conte was keen to offer some back-up to push Hugo Lloris and he saw those qualities back in 2013 in Forster.
Speaking to Spurs TV, Conte referenced The Champions League tie where his Juve side came up against Neil Lennon’s Celtic in The Last 16. Unfortunately, Celtic were beaten across both legs but Forster performed well.
“Fraser, I knew him when he played with Celtic, and we played in the Champions League against Celtic.
“I was impressed because we are talking about a really good ‘keeper and he is a really good guy.
“I have seen this week that he came in very well into the dressing room because for the second goalkeeper, a particular role, and you need to have the second keeper very positive all season, and I think we made the best choice.”
The Champions League really put Forster’s name on the map as he was dubbed ‘The Great Wall’ following a legendary performance against Barcelona. Other performances stood out individually but the fact that Celtic, who were missing key players in the Starting XI, were able to beat one of Europe’s greatest sides was thanks in no small part to Forster.
The goalie made 236 appearances for Celtic across four spells. Forster spent a successful 2019/20 season on loan with Lennon’s Celtic, which was cut short due to COVID-19; however, Lennon had hoped to re-sign him again. For one reason or another, this did not transpire and Celtic instead went out and bought Barkas from AEK Athens. Barkas’ season was a disaster and having lost Craig Gordon on the gamble that Forster would sign, Celtic really missed the Englishman.
Good luck to Forster in North London. Hopefully, he is afforded opportunities to stake a claim for the No.1 jersey that has been held for so long by the French Internationalist, Lloris.
