West Bromwich Albion and Queens Park Rangers were reportedly interested in Celtic winger James Forrest last summer.
Celtic’s James Forrest celebrates scoring
A report in the Daily Record last April suggested that West Brom and Queens Park Rangers were interested in signing Celtic winger James Forrest in the summer with his future almost certainly looking to be away from Parkhead.
Forrest’s previous deal with the Hoops expired towards the end of 2016 and he had seemingly been on his way out of the club having rejected a four-year deal in January of that year, the Daily Record reports.
The Record suggested that had a club made a move in the summer, he was likely to have been available for a six-figure sum just a couple of years after Everton were told that they would need to pay £8 million for the winger.
Forrest would ultimately put an end to any speculation in August by penning a deal that is set to keep him with the Scottish Premiership champions until 2019 (via BBC Sport).
Celtic manager Brendan Rodgers
Given the time it took to experience a complete change of heart, it would hardly have been a surprise if it was Brendan Rodgers’ arrival in conjunction with Ronny Deila’s departure which had the greatest impact on Forrest’s decision, and thus, there was perhaps a window where the likes of West Brom and QPR should have swooped in, and they are now possibly regretting that decision somewhat.
QPR have struggled in the Championship this year, having scored just 49 goals in 43 games so Forrest’s creativity would have undoubtedly been extremely welcome at Loftus Road this year.
West Bromwich Albion manager Tony Pulis
Meanwhile, although West Brom have been tremendous in the Premier League and the form of Matt Phillips and Nacer Chadli has meant that their need has not been too great, the fact that the Scotland international would have been available for such a small fee would have made his arrival a very smart piece of business as they looked for more depth.
And with Forrest enjoying a brilliant year with Celtic, the apparent indecision on whether to take a chance on the 25-year-old is now proving to have been a mistake.
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