Celtic podcaster Lawrence Connolly has offered his thoughts on the future of wideman James Forrest ahead of this summer’s transfer window.
There could be plenty of change at Celtic this summer, indeed, a comment from journalist Michael Stewart back in February claimed that there could be as many as 15 players that could end up being jettisoned this summer as the club look to launch a major rebuild after falling so far behind in the title race last season.
Celtic have already gone through some of that change with the appointment of new boss Ange Postecoglou, and if he wants to implement big changes at Celtic Park, then there may need to be a lot of outgoings in order to raise the funds necessary.
But speaking on the A Celtic State Of Mind podcast, Connolly felt that Forrest, who is still on the comeback trail following a rather nasty ankle injury last season that limited his playing time, won’t be one of the players to move on and that he could stay at the club for the remainder of his career:
“I think Forrest is at Celtic for life. I think he’s decided that’s it, you know, he’s had his chances down south.”
TIF Thoughts on Lawrence Connolly’s comments on James Forrest…
Is James Forrest underrated?
Yes
No
The opportunities Connolly may be referring to are when Liverpool were reportedly showing an interest in him back in 2019, only for him to state that he didn’t have any desire to leave the club and that “I’d love to stay a part of that for as long as I can”.
That should be seen as good news for Celtic, because when he was last properly fit, he was able to show what he can bring to the side, with 21 goals and 29 assists across the 2018/19 and 2019/20 Scottish Premiership seasons.
And if he can keep up that sort of form heading into next season, assuming that the ankle injury hasn’t hurt him too badly, then the £5.4m-rated man can really act as a key part to any sort of title challenge that Celtic may look to mount next season.
In other news: Key Celtic midfielder tipped for potential exit after ‘non-committal’ comments