Neil Lennon says Celtic are waiting for ‘encouragement’ to sign Fraser Forster

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Celtic boss Neil Lennon has again reiterated his hope that the club can secure a permanent deal for goalkeeper loanee Fraser Forster. However, the Parkhead boss has also made it clear that he does not believe discussions are yet underway and is aware a deal might not be possible. 

Forster re-joined Celtic on loan from Southampton last summer, reuniting with his former Parkhead boss Lennon in the process. 

It came after the England international had been bumped to number three stopper at St Mary’s, behind Angus Gunn and Alex McCarthy. 

He has since gone on to have an excellent season for Celtic and the Scottish Sun have previously revealed that the stopper would be willing to take a pay cut to his current £70,000-a-week wages to make a permanent move. 

But Lennon has made it clear that, as of now, no talks appear to be underway between both clubs. Lennon also insisted that Celtic would be waiting for Southampton to make a move regarding Forster’s potential availability. 

“It’s one we would like to do, but we will need to take a steer off Southampton on that.

“Whether we can or not is another thing. It is an avenue we would like to pursue.

“In terms of dialogue between the clubs, I am not aware of that. If we could get some sort of encouragement on that front, we will definitely speak to them.”

It has recently been reported by the Scottish Sun that Celtic and Southampton could do a swap deal which would see Olivier Ntcham head to Southampton in exchange for Forster. 

The Daily Echo later stated that Ntcham was available and a Celtic target, whilst Forster is on the chopping block because of his high wages. 

But any swap deal does not currently appear to be in motion.