NEIL LENNON is hoping to speak to Southampton to clarify whether he will be able to keep loan signings Fraser Forster and Mohamed Elyounoussi at Celtic following the postponement of the Premiership.
The goalkeeper and the winger are currently on season-long loan deals at the Scottish champions from the English Premier League club, but with no guarantee when the season will now end due to the coronavirus outbreak, Lennon doesn’t yet know if he will have the players in his squad when or if the remaining eight games of the Premiership calendar are played.
“This has thrown up all sorts of interesting quirks and questions,” Lennon said.
“I would need to speak to Peter (Lawwell) or Michael Nicholson [Celtic’s Director of Legal and Football Affairs] on that.
“It’s a hypothetical at the minute but it’s another thing I will now have to think about.
“There may be a conversation with Southampton on that.”
Lennon hasn’t received any indication as to how long the current delay to the football season will last from either the SFA or the SPFL, but he is bracing himself and his club as a whole for a long period of inactivity.
“I would love everything to go back to normal, but I know that’s not going to be the case,” he said.
“I would imagine the Euros may be cancelled which would be a huge shame.
“The other thing with the virus is we don’t know how long it’s going to last. China seem to have a grip on it now because their numbers are coming down.
“But from what I gather we haven’t reached our peak yet. It may take a month or maybe more.
“We don’t know how long this is going to go on for. It’s an indefinite period.
“I’ve been told this thing is not even at its peak and it’s going to become more widespread.”
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