Celtic manager Neil Lennon has revealed that the club had come to an agreement with Southampton over Fraser Forster who has gone quiet on the deal.
The 32-year-old goalkeeper, who was sold to the Saints by Celtic in 2014, spent last season on loan at Parkhead and the Hoops were keen to retain his services with some reports in Scotland of a loan-to-buy deal being agreed.
Following the departure of Craig Gordon, Scott Bain is the only senior goalkeeper left at the club and Lennon admits that Forster is the netminder he wants as he plans to try and win the 10-in-a-row.
"We are looking at other options. There was a deal [for Forster] agreed between the clubs but it's gone quiet from the player's side of things," Lennon told Sky Sports News.
"We would dearly love him back here but if that's not going to be the case then we'll look elsewhere.
"We're looking at a number of options on the goalkeeping front. It's such an important position and Fraser did wonderful things for us last season.
"We've got big gloves to fill if you want to put it that way but ideally we'll try to get an exceptional number one in again."
It was announced today that Celtic will begin their title defence and the bid for a 10th consecutive Scottish Premiership title with a home game against Hamilton Academical on Sunday, 2 August.
The season will begin with matches being played behind closed doors but hopes remain that there could be supporters allowed into Scottish grounds later in the season and possibly by the time Celtic host the first Old Firm clash of the season, against Rangers on 17 October.
"It's difficult sometimes without the supporters, there's no question about that and that's something we'll have to adapt to very quickly," said Lennon.
"Hopefully by September, October time we may get permission to get punters in through the door which would be fantastic.
"While it's good to see football back, it's not the same without the supporters."
Lennon accepts that the rest of the clubs in the Scottish top-flight will be out to stop the Glasgow giants from achieving the historic 10-in-a-row.
However he feels that it is important for the squad to try and treat this term as a standalone season.
"Well we've got to just take it as the next title really. For some players who may come in it'll be their first, for some they'll be going for their tenth," said Lennon.
"But we have to keep a balance and just say, 'it's the next one, it's the next challenge to win'.
"There's going to be a lot of hype surrounding it from the outside and we've just got to find our levels and find our consistency as quickly as we possibly can.
"It is monumental what we're going for but we can't let that distract us from actually playing the games and not look too far ahead."
