Fraser Forster and Lionel Messi
Newcastle United are set to be offered the chance to re-sign former goalkeeper Fraser Forster ahead of their return to the Champions League.
Forster's exit from Tottenham Hotspur was confirmed by the Premier League - via the submitted retained list - last night and it is understood that there have been fresh moves to push the keeper forward for a return to his hometown club.
Forster would bolster the numbers for Newcastle to satisfy their homegrown quota with the 37-year-old released by Tottenham on a free transfer this week. Forster did not play a competitive game for the Magpies and moved on to Celtic then Southampton to make his name at senior level.
The Hexham-born stopper may favour a return home and would offer a solution to filling one of three slots to satisfy UEFA's squad criteria. As things stand Newcastle will fall short of the rules and need to submit a squad that contains four "home trained" players.
Failure to comply could see UEFA take action and result in squad places being docked, a situation that unfolded in 2023 when only Paul Dummett and Sean Longstaff qualified as two stars that had trained with the club for three years between the age of 15 and 21.
Forster's agency Stellar are working hard to find the England international a club and will approach Newcastle with a deal a feasible option for the Magpies.
The veteran has always spoken about his wish to return to Newcastle one day and said to the Times: "It means so much being a Geordie and playing for Newcastle. That’s one thing I wish I could change."
Forster joined Newcastle as a kid in 2006 and stayed with the club until 2012 when he joined Celtic in a £2million deal, having already spent the previous two seasons on loan at Parkhead. His performance for Celtic against Barcelona in the Champions League saw him nicknamed 'The Great Wall' by Spanish media while Barca legend Lionel Messi said he was "not human, it is the best goalkeeping performance I have seen."
Before that, he had loan spells at Stockport County, Bristol Rovers and Norwich City as he established himself as one of the country's leading young goalkeepers.
He left Celtic for Southampton in 2014 in a £10m deal, and spent eight years at the club - punctuated by another brief loan spell at Celtic - before signing for Spurs in 2022.
He has been capped six times by England and was understudy to Joe Hart at the 2014 World Cup and 2016 European Championships. He was called back into the England squad two years ago after Nick Pope was injured.
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