John Hartson claimed that it would take an offer of £24million just to get Celtic interested in the idea of selling midfielder James Forrest.
The retired forward made the remarks after the Scottish Sun reported that the Hoops were set to demand at least £8million for the 27-year-old with Liverpool thought to be weighing up whether to make bid for him in the summer.
“So spare me the £8m chat. If – and it is a big if – there was anyone looking at Forrest then they would need to triple that number just to get Celtic interested,” wrote Hartson in his column for the Evening Times.
The Hoops legend then raved about Forrest’s ability and shared that he thought the player was now at the very peak of his game under Brendan Rodgers.
“So you can forget anyone coming in for Forrest or any other player and taking them away for a song,” continued Hartson.
“I think what we have seen from Forrest really since Brendan arrived at Celtic is a player who is at the very peak of his game.
“He has been so pivotal to the way that Celtic have played and never once have you heard him agitating for a move.”
OPINION
Given that Hartson is completely spot-on to claim that Forrest is pivotal to Celtic, it’s easy to see where he is coming with regarding his verdict on the player’s reported price tag. Forrest is a key member of Rodgers’ side and it would cost a pretty penny to replace him with a player at the same level. The right-sided midfielder has been involved in 28 goals this season during the 34 outings he has made and that should see sides having to pay a huge figure to even see the Hoops consider letting him go. However it’s hard to envision Forrest leaving anytime soon as he does seem happy at Celtic and there’s no suggestion that is about to change. Yet if the scenario does develop where the player wants to exit Celtic, which seems unlikely, the Hoops must ensure they see his price tag met as that’s the only way they’ll be able to get someone through the doors in order to cope without him.