John Hartson has said that James Forrest is Celtic’s best player at the moment and added that he would have loved to played alongside him in the side that featured Chris Sutton and Henrik Larsson.
He also said that tForrest is worth more to Celtic than having the money in the bank from selling him.
Writing in his column in the Evening Times, he said it was “frightening” to think that he was almost on his way out before Brendan Rodgers arrived.
“He [Rodgers] has given him confidence and belief, he has added a real goal threat to his game and what you are seeing now is a player who is at the peak of his career,” Hartson wrote.
“And I firmly believe that there is more to come from Forrest with Celtic.
“There’s no doubt now he is well on his way to putting down a marker for the Player of the Year award.
“I don’t know what he is worth right now in a financial sense but I think you can see quite clearly what his worth is to Celtic. And he is far better out on Celtic Park than playing elsewhere with money sitting in the bank.”
OPINION
Forrest is one of those players it’s easy to undervalue. Before the Albania game he hadn’t scored for Scotland and it’s goals that people notice. However, this season he seems to be firing on all cylinders and winning praise from all the pundits. Tam McManus said that he’s worth £10-£15million now and that can’t be far off the mark. Hartson has said he doesn’t know how much he’s worth but that Celtic are better off with him on the park than having the money in the bank, and that says a lot. He thinks that he’s Celtic’s best player at the moment, which is high praise indeed given the form of Odsonne Edouard, but it’s bang on the money. Forrest has been brilliant and there’s no reason why he can’t step up again and turn himself into a Celtic legend. He’s already scored near his total goals tally for last season in the Premiership and if Celtic do go on to win the title, we think Forrest will have had a big say on things.