The Fraser Forster Game of Poker is well underway with no-one holding the aces.
Southampton have an asset/commitment, the player has the security of a two year contract with Celtic holding the prospect of regular top team football.
Into the mix has come a mystery club with a mystery interest in the former England keeper.
The Daily Record reports:
Celtic face a fight with a top English Premier League club to land Fraser Forster this summer.
Cash-strapped Southampton are keen to sell the keeper as they bid to slash their wage bill and Neil Lennon is desperate to make his loan deal permanent.
Forster is among a list of top earners they want to offload and allowing him to return to Celtic last summer was an attempt to put the keeper in the shop window.
And now Lennon will have to convince the 32-year-old his future remains in Glasgow after a top-four Premier League side placed Forster on a shortlist of four keepers they are looking to sign.
Liverpool, Manchester City, Leicester City and Chelsea sit in the top four positions with Chelsea the most likely to be looking for a new goalkeeper after Kepa fell out of favour with Frank Lampard for a month before making two appearances before Lockdown set in.
Whether they could offer Forster a route to first team football is debatable but picking up his Southampton salary and a fee in the region of £5-10m wouldn’t be outwith their budget for a back-up keeper.
The other clubs have well-established first choice keepers, after a year in the wilderness Forster isn’t likely to be in a rush for bench duty when he knows of Celtic’s continuing interest.
It looks unlikely that there will be a quick resolution to the issue with Neil Lennon having to exercise patience with Scott Bain the only keeper with first team experience contracted for next season.