‘One of the best’: Glenn Loovens raves about £10m ace Celtic reportedly want to buy

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Celtic on-loan goalkeeper Fraser Forster – a reported permanent target for Neil Lennon – has been praised by Hoops cult hero Glenn Loovens, in conversation with the Glasgow Evening Times.

Forster has been on Southampton’s books since the summer of 2014, when he left Parkhead for St Mary’s Stadium in a £10million deal (BBC Sport), and has made 125 appearances for the Saints, but fell out of favour under both Mark Hughes and then Ralph Hasenhuttl.

The 32-year-old made just one first-team appearance for Southampton last season, the penultimate game of the 2018-19 Premier League campaign against West Ham, in which he conceded three goals, and his last senior appearance prior to that was on Boxing Day 2017, when the Saints were beaten 5-1 by Tottenham.

However, Forster’s loan switch back to Celtic has proven a new lease of life for his career, with 39 appearances for Lennon’s side this term prior to the shutdown, and numerous superb performances and saves, in particular his masterclasses against Lazio at Celtic Park and against Rangers in the Scottish League Cup final.

“Fraser did really well at Celtic first time around and as a result of that he got a nice move,” former teammate Loovens said. “Unfortunately, he lost his place latterly at Southampton. But Celtic was a good place for him to go back to and show what he is capable of and he has done that.

“He is a big guy with a commanding presence. He is the sort of guy you look at and say: ‘Oh my God! Look at the size of him!’ People think twice going up against him when he is coming out at them full speed. Of course, he is a great goalkeeper as well. He is one of the best all-round goalkeepers I played with in my career.”

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It’s almost baffling to think Forster was frozen out at Southampton for so long, considering just how well he has done back at Celtic, and he would be an incredible permanent signing for the Hoops.

As reported by the Sunday Post in February, Celtic hope that Southampton will let the £70,000-a-week ace (Spotrac) go in a cut-price deal, but considering they’ve not had the best of seasons, they may consider hanging on to him.

That said, if Southampton feel it’s best for both parties to go their separate ways, then Celtic definitely have to make the most of it.