The Celtic hierarchy are being reported North of the border as shocked and stunned after Fraser Forster informed them that after previously wishing to return to Glasgow for another season, he now prefers to stay at Southampton.

Celtic manager Neil Lennon and the club’s chief executive Peter Lawwel were reportedly left stunned by Fraser Forster’s decision to give his career at St Mary's another crack.

That is according to a report from The Scottish Sun, which suggests both senior Celtic figures were left aghast when the club’s former keeper in two seperate spells both permanent and the recent loan made it clear his intention was to now stay at Southampton to fight for first-team football.

That is according to a report from The Scottish Sun, which suggests both senior Celtic figures were left aghast when the club’s former loanee made it clear his intention to fight for first-team football at Southampton.

The report further claims that both men were"‘led to believe" that an agreement would be reached that would see the Keeper back at Celtic in 2020-21, which saw them allow Craig Gordon his move to Hearts.

It is unclear whether this U turn in developments is driven by Saints who did not want another loan spell that would see them actually paying part of his wages to play for Celtic, but would have preferred a permanent deal to somewhere or Forster himself, but certainly it seems that Ralph Hasenhuttl has spoken to the keeper and the decision has now been made.

Forster staying would see either McCarthy or Gunn move on, neither has been totally convincing over the season, McCarthy has come in and steadied the ship, but he has been seen as too error prone and having spent most of his career as a back up, does not have the levels of concentration needed to play a full season.

Angus Gunn is young and probably needs a spell out on loan where the pressure is off him to regain his confidence and come back stronger, so the likelihood is that Forster and McCarthy will fight it out for the top spot and Gunn will go out on loan somewhere.

All three keepers have suffered from playing behind a defence that since the departure of Van Dijk and Fonte has been disorganised, if Forster can come back with his confidence restored then he is likely to be the number one again.

Saints fans have to approach this with an open mind, with the right defenders brought in Forster could again flourish.

Photo: Action Images

WestSussexSaint added 09:08 - Jul 29 For Fraser to make this move can only be because he has been given certain assurances from Saints that he is in the reckoning for Saints No 1 again. Having Fraser back to his best can only be a good thing for Saints. At his best he is a top keeper and competition in the position will drive Alex and Angus to up their performance level as well.
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SNAILOB added 09:12 - Jul 29 I think if Forster shows Ralph that he has what it takes to start, he could initially benefit from playing in stadiums without fans. Forster was never a bad keeper, he was just a keeper who hit a bad patch and saw his confidence take a massive hit. When mistakes are made by 'keepers, the fans are very quick to react. We have seen both McCarthy & Gunn go through similar spells (in fact, how many top flight keepers haven't experienced this - Hart, Pickford, Butland etc.), it seems part of the process in being a goalkeeper. Hopefully his season at Celtic has brought that confidence back and he can again start to establish himself and show the form that rightfully earned him a place as one of the Goalkeepers in the England squad.

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ssxsaint added 10:51 - Jul 29 I understand SFC had an agreement with Celtic but Forster was not happy. Clearly he wasn’t prepared to give up his current very rewarding contract. Nothing to do with “fighting for his place”.
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darthvader added 11:15 - Jul 29 I suspect the "fighting to keep his high wages" is more to the point , hes not going to take a 80% pay cut ?
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Big_T added 12:10 - Jul 29 ££££££££££££££££££££££££££££££££ Nothing else 🙄
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Toussaint added 12:23 - Jul 29 Exactly its money. our style also demands a keeper that can play a bit...FF dont venture out the 6 box
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I_would added 13:06 - Jul 29 Back to wearing nappies again if the giant money-grabbing bar steward rears his head again.
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Crispinmumbles added 13:51 - Jul 29 Oh God!
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IanRC added 13:54 - Jul 29 Nice to see supporters getting behind him. As WSS said a top keeper when he has confidence and the competition would be good for McCarthy and Gunn. Hope we don't lose Gunn but a loan spell might be good whilst Forster McCarthy fight it out for the number one position.
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kingolaf added 15:28 - Jul 29 I wouldn’t be at all bothered if we sold Gunn. He must have been given a serious leg up from his old man to get to where he is now. He is a poor keeper who should be playing a much lower level.
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underweststand added 16:49 - Jul 29 We are paying this man (FF) a lot of money and he owes it to himself AND the club to show us his best. If he stays and "fights for his place" we'll all know the truth by mid-season and can expect Angus Gunn to go out on loan and get himself pencilled in as "one for the Future" when McCarthy and Forster have aged a bit more.
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AirFlorida added 21:27 - Jul 29 Jeeeez! Am I the only one? Leave him be. Off load him, cut our losses if we can by saying we don't want him back. He will be a liability back in goal for us. Couple of bad games and we're dealing with another confidence crisis. Evidence is there: once a top keeper loses his confidence there is no way back. Forster is burnt and McCarthy is our no.1 for next season. We can't afford to drop McCarthy, mess up his confidence and then bring him back in when Forster implodes. Leave the guy up north, he's found his level. Cut losses. Keep happy ship. Keep Gunn as back up.

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