Celtic thought they had their man, but now it seems they have a rival as an un named top 4 Premier League side have now stepped into the bidding.

According to the Daily Echo in Scotland Fraser Forster is very keen to stay on at Celtic, but as was reported yesterday there are sticking points between Celtic's valuation and the price Saints are seeking, also Celtic are struggling to match his wages and would perhaps prefer another loan deal whereas Saints are looking for a straight transfer.

The report has added that a top-four Premier League club are also interested in the player, but so far no one has suggested who that club are likely to be.

Liverpool have been linked in the past and they have suffered with goalkeeping issues this season when Alisson has been injured, in truth it is hard to see any of the top four sides looking at Forster as first choice and that in itself throws up a few questions.

Firstly would any of them be willing to pay £8-10 million for a back up keeper and likewise would they be prepared to pay the sort of income he is on at Saints.

Then there is the question whether Forster himself is willing to effectively end his career as a regular starter at an age when goalkeepers are seen as being at their peak.

From a Saints perspective this latest news is good as it puts a little pressure on Celtic to up their offer a little and could speed up negotiations, that is of course assuming that this unnamed club is actually fact and not fiction and a rumour made up by one of the interested parties.

Photo: Action Images

dirk_doone added 10:32 - Jun 9 On Saintsweb, when fans were asked to choose their best Saints XI since we were promoted to the Premier League, the vast majority picked Forster as their first choice goalkeeper. The only other goalkeeper to get picked was Boruc. The stats also show that he has kept the most clean sheets and has conceded the fewest goals per game of any of the top flight goalkeepers we have had this century so it's no wonder a top 4 club is interested in him.

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legod7 added 11:54 - Jun 9 dirk, and rightly so. Everyone knows that he was our no.1 keeper up until that poll was conducted. A lot has happened since then and I don’t think any Premier club are interested at all.He has dropped down to third choice behind McCarthy and Gunn.
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TimSaint added 12:22 - Jun 9 He was good, very good for us for a couple of seasons - hence the England call ups. BUT - lets not forget that all those clean sheets happened when we actually HAD a defence in front of our 'keeper - so it wasn't all down to just FF :-)
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dirk_doone added 12:28 - Jun 9 Most goalkeepers have dips in form at some stage in ther career. Palace fans were desperately keen to get rid of McCarthy because they felt he had become a liability. whereas Celtic fans want Forster because they think he is a great goalkeeper. Some recent quotes from the Talk Celtic forum: 'He's a fantastic keeper' 'I said months ago he was our top signing priority and nothings changed imo, he has been the difference for us on many occasions last season.' 'It would be nice to retain Ely but there's only one player I'm worried about and that's the big man, if we keep him we shouldn't even have to worry about signing new players as we've got the youth already mentioned.' 'If theres proper interest from Prem teams which there will be because he's very good, i think we are in trouble, even with finances a little tighter plenty of prem teams will pay 7-10m for him.' There are hundreds more like that.

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underweststand added 13:20 - Jun 9 Perhaps Forster should stay out his time with Saints. We are stuck with his contract for another 2 years , and it's harder to find a good Prem. keeper -if needed in emergency. Since the Leicester fiasco , Angus Gunn hasn't had a look-in. He can't go another season playing the odd cup game and occasional turn-out for the U23's . Maybe(?) ..it would be an idea to keep Forster as second keeper, and let Angus have a full season as keeper for a Championship side. Angus is still young , and needs the confidence of playing every week, if he is to be seen to justify his valuation. He was a big money investment but hasn't inspired confidence of many in the fan base.

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