Barcelona Star Alves Wants England Goalkeeper to Replace Valdes

Dani Alves believes that Celtic and England goalkeeper Fraser Forster has the quality to replace current Barcelona number one Victor Valdes when the quits the club in the summer.

The Spanish goalkeeper confirmed over the course of the summer that he would not renew his contract with his boyhood club and would depart at the end of the current season.

Barcelona are now searching for a replacement for their long-serving number one and it seems Forster could well be a candidate after pulling off a string of impressive saves against the Catalans in the Champions League.

The Spanish champions would eventually secure a 1-0 win at Parkhead but the Spanish newspapers would be full of praise for the performance of Forster.

The 25 year old has excelled at Celtic after struggling to force his way into the Newcastle United first team, and has now appeared three times against Barcelona, suitably impressing on every occasion.

Now it seems he could well be a target for Barcelona after Alves admitted that the the Celtic stopper would be a great addition in the summer.

"Only the club can answer how accurate the reports are on the interest in Forster but if they are true it doesn't surprise me," Alves told the Daily Record.

"We have played Celtic three times in a year now and each time Forster has been fantastic.

"He has had to deal with the best attacking players in the world and each time he has done very well - even in the games Celtic lost.

"Barcelona are a club that are always looking to add quality and it's clear Forster has real quality.

"Obviously no transfers can be done at the moment - but if it is a deal that ever happens then he'd be a good addition."

Forster failed to play a single game for Newcastle after coming though the academy but did impress during a loan spell at Norwich back in the 2009/10 season.

He then spent two years on-loan at Celtic before Newcastle were finally convinced to part with Forster who joined for a nominal fee.

Despite failing to ever make an impact in the Premier League, Forster is a current member of Roy Hodgson's England squad and will hope to challenge a struggling Joe Hart for the number one jersey.

However, his excellent performances could make it difficult for Celtic to hang on to the talented keeper with Alves suggesting he could follow in the footsteps of Victor Wanyama and Gary Hooper who were snapped up over the summer after impressing in European competition.

"It is an issue for Celtic that by doing so well at the highest level they are showcasing their best players," added Alves.

"They lost one or two in the summer and with the way Forster is performing in Europe it is only natural there will be interest."