Saints CEO Martin Semmens has declared Fraser Forster a "full part of our squad" and stated he will be given an opportunity to win his spot back in the Saints side, a statement that suggests that one of the other keepers may be heading out of the door.

Forster has played just once for the club since Boxing Day 2017 — a 3-0 defeat at West Ham in May last year, although not covering himself in glory on that day he was no better or worse than Gunn or McCarthy at the time, but if he thought that might signal a comeback he soon found himself out on loan at Celtic the following season.

His great form in Scotland seemed to suggest he would return to Glasgow for the coming season, but with Celtic unable to afford to either buy him or pay a reasonable part of his wages, he is now back at St Mary's and could be given another chance.

"There's never been any issue with Fraser from a relationship point of view," Semmens told BBC Radio Solent.

"He's always trained brilliantly and is a fantastic guy. Ralph (Hasenhuttl) and him have never really had any issues and they've not had a lot of time together.

"He's obviously always been our player and one that we watched carefully."

He added: "Fraser made an active decision to come back. He didn't want to stay at Celtic anymore, he wanted to come back and play for us so we'll give him that opportunity.

"Fraser has been a full part of the squad since he came back. He couldn't be during the games in July because he wasn't allowed to be part of that squad but now he's a full part of it.

"He's training and he's doing really well, so we'll see how that develops but Fraser is a full part of our squad going forward."

With Forster seemingly back in the squad it seems that unless Saints find a buyer who can afford his wages then he might well be here for the coming season, if that is the case then either Angus Gunn or Alex McCarthy may well be elsewhere either on loan or permanently.

Neither was totally convincing during the season, Mc Carthy played the bulk of the games but seemed always prone to an error, sometimes they cost us goals and sometimes he got away with is such as the offside goal at Bournemouth.

I would think that it would be Gunn that would move on possibly on loan to give him experience.

Photo: Action Images

WestSussexSaint added 18:27 - Aug 27 McCarthy starts the season as No 1 but I expect Fraser will do all he can to win back that position. That in turn will help McCarthy perform at his best. With a half decent defence in front of them I think we have the keepers to do the job. I agree that Gunn should go on loan as still has plenty of time to learn and improve.
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underweststand added 18:57 - Aug 27 I go along with West Sussex's comments (above) and reminding ourselves that Forster has been our player all along ..and has been handsomely paid for the privilege so we can expect to see him sharing the goalie spot with McCarthy from time to time throughout the season depending on form / fitness. Goalies often have "confidence issues" when they make mistakes, and Forster's took a beating when he conceded 5 goals v Tottenham at Wembley. McCarthy has also made mistakes but I think (Nick) was rather harsh about him in his article, as Alex also made some really spectacular saves last season. Yes Angus Gunn should be playing regularly - somewhere else - and getting match experience on a regular basis. We also have young Harry Lewis on the books, who did his loan stint in Scotland a while back, so as least we have reasonable cover.

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saintsnutcase added 19:20 - Aug 27 Fraser is one of the best in the Prem - except with his feet. That may be a problem under Ralph. However I think he will become first choice.
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saintlee added 19:33 - Aug 27 That's right saintsnutcase, because McCarthy and Angus are both great with their feet. Forster is still the best keeper at the club. That Boxing day at Wembley against Spurs really shook him up which contributed to his lack of form.
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A1079 added 21:02 - Aug 27 May be the reason he did not want to return to Celtic is that he could see that this season they would be in a downward trajectory and he didn't want to be part of a team going in the wrong direction. May be that is a bit cynical. I don't dislike Forster and I do think he was hit by confidence and lost self belief and I don't mind if he stays but I do wonder whether he struggles when the going gets tough!

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perazi added 22:34 - Aug 27 Fraser Forster has proven time and again in his last two seasons with SFC that he was/is not good enough at Prem level; especially when he didn't have the quality of defence/midfield in front of him as he did in the Wanyama, Morgan, VVD, Fonte, Toby, Clyne etc days. He is back at Saints to ensure the continuity of his 80,000 pounds a week wage. He has proven previously he is prepared to sit on the bench for big money rather than play regularly for less. Being stuck with him again really sheets home the stupidity of Les Reed's decision to give him such a lavish, extended contract.

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UgandaSaint added 09:12 - Aug 28 Fraser Forster was a great keeper when he arrived, unfortunately our goalkeeping coach taught him to stay on his line and stop commanding the box, our goalkeeping coach taught him not to stand in the middle of the goal at free kicks to give the opposition a better chance to score. If he can unlearn the bad habits he was taught he can be a great keeper again.
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redandwhitedee added 09:28 - Aug 28 Very happy to see Fraser back. Rather him as competition than Gunn any day. But your comment about McCarthy is no sense. He was outstanding last season and was the main reason (with Stephens) for our pick-up in form after Gunn was dropped. Find me a goalie who doesn’t make any errors.
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I_would added 15:27 - Aug 28 Worst keeper we've ever had. Won't play unless McCarthy injured but may have a couple of Cup outings until he starts leaking easy goals again. Which he will.
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SaintBrock added 12:45 - Aug 29 Very strange decision. The guy has no future here.Would you hang around when you know you're not wanted? Of course not.
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