For those of us with an interest in Scottish football it’s easy to see why teams on the continent and English Premier League sides would be interested in England international goalkeeper Fraser Forster.

Southampton have been linked with the shot-stopper and have already had a bid turned down for the Northumberland born goalie.

The six foot seven giant has had a very successful time in Scotland breaking numerous clean-sheets records and winning plenty of winners medals. But his domestic performances have been misjudged, as foreign fans laugh off the Scottish game. Many believe that you could put a scarecrow in goals at Parkhead and Celtic would still keep a clean-sheet. But that is just ignorance talking. In many a Scottish domestic game, Forster has done well with fantastic stops and he rarely gets the credit for them that he deserves. Yes he may have plenty of time doing nothing but then when he is called upon, Fraser is there and stands up and usually produces the save.

But what the doubters cannot deny is Fraser Forster’s top-class performances in the Champions League. The Spanish media gave Forster the nickname “La Gran Muralla” (The Great Wall) after his heroics against Barcelona. Whilst Marca stated ‘an amazing performance by Fraser Forster‘. Gianluigi Buffon, the great Italian goalkeeper and the best of his time, said “Anyone who has seen his performances for Celtic knows what an exceptional talent he is.”

His presence in goal with his huge stature is formidable and gives him an early advantage over strikers. Forster is a fine shot-stopper too, with powerful wrists to bat balls away from the goal. He also has speedy reactions and covers his goalmouth well, whether that means getting down low for an effort or clawing one away from the top corner.

Has become a fans favourite in Glasgow’s east end and is a very popular member of both the England and Celtic squads with his down to earth persona.

So you can see why Southampton might be interested. Reportedly so were Barca, Arsenal and Benfica.

But a lot depends on what Celtic and Forster want to do next.

The Glasgow club don’t need to sell and certainly won’t for a fee in the region of £3.5m (the reported first Saints bid). It would take between £8m and £10m, in my opinion, before Celtic chief executive Peter Lawwell takes any suitor seriously. Celtic would then be making a nice £6m-£8m profit on a player they plucked from Newcastle Utd’s reserves back in 2010. But don’t forget that Celtic still need to qualify for the group stages of this seasons Champions League, they probably won’t do any business until their European fate is decided.

But again they would only sell Forster on the understanding that he wants to leave.

To be fair, he would probably be open to a move. But only if it was to the right club/league. As an Englishman, the EPL would be an exciting option for him. The keeper would stand a better chance of securing a spot as England’s number two if he was performing well in that particular league. Also coming up against quality strikers every week will be enticing too.

That said, would he relish moving to St Mary’s where we’ve seen so many departures as of late? It could be a long, tough season for the Saints if Ronald Koeman doesn’t bring in adequate replacements for the likes of Adam Lallana, Rickie Lambert, Luke Shaw and Dejan Lovren.

So can Southampton bring ‘the Great Wall’ to St Mary’s?

well I suppose the only way Southampton can really find out if Fraser Forster is willing to join their new revolution is by showing more ambition with their transfer strategy and by offering Celtic £8m or more and then waiting for Forster’s response.

Posted on July 29th, 2014 by scott
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