Celtic star Fraser Forster may have dropped a big hint about potentially rejoining his former club on a permanent basis.
The on-loan Southampton man has been crucial to the club’s performances this season. His performance in the club’s recent 2-1 win was hailed, as he made as many as six saves in the whole game.
In an interview that the Englishman recently gave to Daily Record, he talked about the feeling of playing for the Hoops and dropped a hint about staying permanently.
He said: “I don’t know what it is about the place. There are a lot of good people at the club and I work with a lot of good people.
“I just love being here, I just enjoy it. I’m up here, I’m a Celtic player for the year and that’s fine. I just want to do as well for this club as I can. I’m loving being back and playing. I want to make the most of my time.
“I had a tough year last year and the main thing was to get back to enjoying football and enjoying life again.”
Rejuvenating himself in Glasgow
Forster, who is valued at £7.2m by TransferMarkt, had rejoined Celtic on a temporary loan deal this past summer from Southampton, where he had fallen out of favour in recent times.
This season under Neil Lennon, he has played 15 times in all competitions for the club. In total, he has kept as many as seven clean sheets during this time. He has also conceded just ten goals in all competitions.
This is in stark contrast to how things were for him at Southampton last season. He had played once in the Premier League last season and he had fallen so much down the pecking order that he had also played three times in the Premier League 2 for the Saints’ Under-23s side.
He had joined the St Mary’s Stadium based side from the Bhoys in the summer of 2014 for a fee of £10million. In total, the England international played 125 times in all competitions for the club, keeping 45 clean sheets as well.
He has also made six appearances for the Three Lions’ senior team, but his last appearance for the nation came in May 2016 in England 2-1 win over Australia in a friendly at home.
TIF Tactics
It is clear why Celtic fans would be getting excited about signing their former player on a permanent basis once again if given the opportunity. He has, arguably, been one of the best players this season and the aforementioned numbers show that.
Not just the Lazio game, but he was also key in Celtic’s 2-0 win over Cluj in the Europa League. He achieved a WhoScored rating of 7.25 in the game – the fourth-highest on the pitch.
And he has done enough to raise the eyebrows of everyone at the club. He deserves to join the club permanently, considering how Angus Gunn and Alex McCarthy have become regulars for the Saints in the Premier League.
Second-choice goalkeeper Scott Bain did sign a new deal at Celtic recently, but that should not harm Forster’s chances of signing permanently. Bain has played some games towards the beginning of the season but since then, Forster has taken over his position between the sticks.