Southampton’s Fraser Forster is one of Europe’s most in-form goalkeepers at the moment.
The Englishman is currently on a season-long loan to Scottish champions Celtic and he’s been in incredible form in the UEFA Europa League, making some crucial saves to help them advance into the knockout stages of the competitions.
Forster looks a totally different player to the one who could barely get a game for the Saints. The 31-year-old was the third-choice at the St Mary’s, behind Alex McCarthy and Angus Gunn.
Now, The Athletic have revealed that he was only handed a new deal by the Saints in 2016 because Manchester United were interested in signing him for around £40m. In the report, it says:
When Fraser got his new contract, he was on the verge of taking over from Joe Hart as England’s No 1. Manchester United were sniffing because they thought David De Gea was going to Real Madrid and at that time, Fraser was probably the most valuable goalkeeper in England.
If you think you’re going to sell him to Man Utd and want probably £40 million for him, he’s not going to sit there and say, ‘I’ll wait another year but I’ll wait on the wages I’m on’.So it was a calculated decision to raise the player’s value. He should have been Southampton’s No 1 but a number of managers lost faith in him, yet he’s having a great time at Celtic now and there’s even talk about him getting back in the picture with England.
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It seems like a big transfer mistake was made by Southampton. Offering a new lucrative deal with huge wages, simply to avoid selling a player who ended up falling out of favour anyway must hurt.
It’s important to note that Forster’s career at Southampton isn’t yet over, as he still has a deal until 2022.
