James Forrest has been catching the eye of Harry Redknapp and Kenny Dalglish in his breakthrough season but the young Celtic winger insists he's at Parkhead to stay.
In a fine campaign, Forrest has picked up a league winners' medal, represented his country and won the football writers' young player of the year award. His form has lead to speculation that the 20-year-old could be tempted to move south, but he is adamant he wants to remain under the tutelage of Neil Lennon, his manager at Parkhead.
"I wouldn't want to leave," said Forrest. "If you think about it, it's a good thing to be linked with other clubs, because you wouldn't be linked if you weren't doing well but I had a good season here and I want to up that next season."
Despite making his first-team debut in March 2010 – scoring a fine solo goal against Motherwell – Forrest admits it took until October of last year to feel he had truly arrived as a first-team player.
Celtic were 3-0 down at Kilmarnock, 15 points behind Rangers, the title race almost over before it had really begun. Forrest remembers well the weight on his young shoulders as Lennon delivered his instructions for the second half in the Rugby Park dressing room. "We knew the gaffer was under pressure because results weren't going our way," he recalled. "We had to take something from that game."
Belying his years, Forrest led by example in the next 45 minutes as Celtic salvaged a 3-3 draw. Was that the day he truly came of age? "I think that game was the turning point," he agreed. "That was the game where I made myself a first-team player."
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