Media reports from Scotland are suggesting that Saints are demanding too much money for Fraser Forster and pricing Celtic out of a deal.
Celtic have made clear their desire to re-sign Fraser Forster this summer after an outstanding season on loan in his second spell at the club, but it is reported that Saints want £10 million for the keeper and that is an issue given that Celtic also cannot match the £70 k a week that the big goalkeeper is on at St Mary's.
Forster who is 32 is at his peak as a goalkeeper in terms of age, but is £10 million too much ?
I would say that we are entering a period where both clubs are jostling to take their positions and that the price will be somewhere in between.
Saints are quoting £10 million as they would hope that if they do pursue Olivier Ntcham, then the price for Forster would take up a big chunk of any fee that would cost, this in turn would free up Celtic to start to put together a deal that Forster would accept, with two years on his Saints contract left, Forster has a big decision to make financially.
This means getting out the calculator and seeing if he can afford to throw away a significant amount of money, at Saints he will not only be on that big salary, but a big annual loyalty bonus payable on July 1st every year.
I would not say that Forster is being greedy, after all he was offered the contract and signed it, but would any of us choose to take a likely 50% pay cut lightly,
In simple terms with two years left Forster is unlikely to get more than £35k a week anywhere, so x that by 104 weeks and he will be giving away £3.6 million in salary if he sticks to his Saints contract.
The reality is that Saints will probably have to offer him an incentive to take the drop in salary, perhaps £1 million which would normally be factored in to the transfer fee, and for Forster himself he is getting a longer term deal thus more security.
There is going to be a lot of give and take needed on both sides and the real key is going to be whether Saints are truly interested in Ntcham, he is going to be central to the move either as part of a double deal or if he goes elsewhere the money received will help pay for Forster.
So should Saints drop their price ? the answer is not at the moment, it is a bargaining tool, but I suspect that there is a lot of negotiation to go yet, for Saints it is about getting that £70k a week off the books so they can use it elsewhere, from this perspective they can afford to drop a little in price.