Despite recent reports, Celtic fans may yet see Fraser Forster back between the posts at Parkhead, but it could come at a cost.
An article in The Sun has claimed that Southampton could be about to let the towering stopper return north but only as a makeweight in a deal that sees Olivier Ntcham head the other way – Celtic would also be expected to pay a greater percentage of Forster’s reportedly huge pay packet.
A permanent deal seems to be out of the question with Premier League big guns Chelsea and Arsenal both said to be willing to pay the Saints £10million asking price but Neil Lennon may feel that the loss of Forster for a season would be more damaging than losing Ntcham – who was rated at £5million by The Daily Record in January – in his efforts to secure 10-in-a-row and his place in history – despite the Frenchman’s obvious quality.
With Craig Gordon’s departure now confirmed, Celtic continue to be linked with alternate options should they not be able to negotiate a deal with Southampton and none would be more high profile than the potential arrival of Joe Hart.
He may not have been in the greatest of form over the last couple of seasons, but neither was Forster before he returned to Parkhead, Hart has 75 England caps to his name and can count the great Gianluigi Buffon as one of his many admirers in the past having proclaimed him as the best in the world in the not too distant past.
Lennon would’ve thought that this transfer window would be altogether more straight forward than it is proving to be, however, he now faces a race against time to make sure that he has an experienced pair of hands organising his defence when football kicks off again in August.