Fraser Forster rediscovered his confidence and form over the last year and in doing so won his place back as first choice keeper at St Mary's, a call up to the England squad and now it seems a new contract with Southampton.

Rumours around the Saints goalkeeping spot have flown around over the course of this season with some sources claiming that firstly Alex McCarthy was close to signing a new deal back in September and also that it had been signed but the club had held back on announcing it, similar rumours also surfaced regarding Jack Stephens.

A year ago Ralph Hasenhuttl had intimated that he would have to choose between either Forster or McCarthy as his back up keeper next season, between them they are said to be on about £140k a week with Forster taking up the lions share on £90k.

But now it seems that he may have made his mind up if media reports are to be believed.

Journalist Tom Barclay, a man that has a lot to say about Southampton transfer rumours had this to say commenting on Forster's future at St Mary's

“Last I checked a couple of weeks ago, they were starting to look at things in the next couple of weeks, so I guess (talks will begin) around now.”

A little sketchy, but it does perhaps indicate that Alex McCarthy is truly out of favour with Ralph Hasenhuttl after starting this season as his first choice, in truth McCarthy was in the main never really convincing in the games he played at the start of the season and was under fire after letting in soft goals against Norwich & Leicester City culminating in the events surrounding the home game against Brighton.

The Austrian was publicly scathing about McCarthy's professionalism in what was the keeper's last appearance for the club, when he failed to tell the bench that he was injured and it resulted in a late injury time equaliser for Brighton.

That injury has kept the keeper out for the last four months and in that time Forster has excelled and even Willy Caballero who came in as an out of contract signing would seem to be above McCarthy in the pecking order.

So it could be that Alex McCarthy has played his last game for the club and will be released at the end of his contract in July with Forster the man who will be offered a new deal.

This will be on a lot less that the £90 k he is reportably on at the moment, a more likely figure being around £30k a week, a saving of around £3 million off the Saints wage bill and when added to McCarthy's £50k a week, that frees up a lot of cash for the wages of any new signings.

If Forster does stay then the big question will be whether it will be as Saints number 1 or as back up, ideally the club would land one of their rumoured targets, Sam Johnstone of West Brom said to be the main focus with Dean Henderson of Manchester United another target.

But Forster's form this season takes the pressure off the club, although they would ideally sign one of their targets, Forster's form this season has meant that potentially he could be first choice next season should the club not land who they consider to be the long term keeper going forward, although this would not be a long term fix, it does buy us time and would mean that we would not need to panic buy a first choice.

Photo: Action Images

derbydog added 09:29 - Mar 29 I don’t think you can assume that Cabellero is rated higher than McCarthy. A two-legged goalie will always start ahead of one with an injury. It’s not our policy to sign oldies but goodies with no resale value either. The problem with the scenario you suggest in signing Henderson or Johnstone is that neither of them will want to come to sit on the bench. Nor will Forster want to re-sign and not start. The more logical thing to do is to sign any one of them (McCarthy, Forster, Henderson or Johnstone)and then go for the best young goalie we can find who will be happy to be on the bench, would be a mid-term replacement and will have potential to be sold on at some point in the future.

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highfield49 added 09:44 - Mar 29 Provided that Forster can struggle by and somehow manage on £30k a week, or whatever, I don't think it makes a lot of sense to bring in Johnstone or Henderson. Although ostensibly they are both better 'keepers neither is going to be that good with the central defence still lacking quality. Obviously, with all the 'keepers out of contract, someone is going to be signed but whether it's a high profile player or an understudy with significant potential only time will tell. The first priority may need to be a forward capable of scoring fifteen plus goals a season and they are clearly difficult to find.

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landsdownsaint added 09:57 - Mar 29 I could never understand Mcarthy ahead of FF . Mcarthy reminds me of Paul Jones but FF isn’t no Antti Niemi either , I’d be interested too see who comes in for Jack Stephens if he’s not given a new contract , I don’t think he’s good enough for the championship It’s saints that have been loyal too Stephens not the other way around imho , he’s a lower league central defender who’s had more chances than anyone iv ever seen at saints too but prove us doubters wrong on his ability too become a settled reliable central defender ….. I do realise others may not see it like this

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underweststand added 12:02 - Mar 29 No other club is likely to offer FF anything like the huge salary he was gifted by Les Reed. However, I think most would agree that he has shown some of the best form he had at his peak and so a new contract - at a "more sensible fee" - would be a win-win situation. Fraser for his part has done well from his enormous salary whilst spending the best part of 3 years on the bench /and / or away on loan. Some might say - he owes us. He would surely admit his luck having obtained his present contract in the first place, but any " heavy-handed "demands on his part would definitely reek of GREED !. New names (?). Unfortunately Harry Lewis never fulfilled his early career promise, and despite some good performances Alex McCarthy never showed any consistency as last season negative GD would confirm. I think we need a new no.2 back-up goalie to develop as FF's "eventual successor " although an extra season for Willie C. would also seem to be a safe bet, and excellent cover should we encounter a crisis situation again.

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saintsfanbrock added 06:07 - Mar 30 I can’t see FF accepting £30k a week, far nearer £50k. With his contract nearly run down he will be able to strongly argue that he could go be second goalkeeper at a wealthier club and be paid that to sit on their bench. While he might accept a couple of £k’s dropped to actually get some game time I can’t see him dropping £20k. Man U pays there second keeper £100k a week, Chelsea £52k (for Mende where Kepa was getting first keeper salary), Arsenal £63k a week, etc.

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