Neil Lennon has revealed that Celtic will discuss signing Fraser Forster on a permanent deal.
The keeper arrived on loan at the end of August and almost won the League Cup at Hampden on his own with an inspired display.
Incredibly Forster was the third choice keeper at Southampton at the start of the season but the economics of a move to Celtic will require serious consideration.
As a current England internationalist, the keeper signed a contract keeping him with the Saints until June 2022 with wages reported to be in the region of £90,000 per week.
If that figure is true Forster will be picking up close to three times the amount that Celtic’s highest paid player is on.
Bridging that gap and finding a transfer fee won’t be straightforward but it’s an issue that Lennon is ready to tackle as he told The Sun:
It’s about affordability but that’s something we can talk about. I’ll talk to the player but first we have to make the call to Southampton and I’ll need to speak to Peter Lawwell about that.
Is it beyond us? I don’t know. Would I love to do it? Of course, but we have to be realistic at times and we can’t go overboard either. We have to be prudent but we have him right now and it’s fantastic because he’s definitely made us better.
Craig Gordon is out of contract at the end of this season but Scott Bain recently signed a new deal keeping him at Celtic until 2023.
Celtic’s annual report to 30 June 2019 revealed that Peter Lawwell was paid £3.5m with chairman Ian Bankier claiming it was money well spent.
