Goalkeeper Alex McCarthy has signed a new three-year contract at Southampton, The Athletic can reveal.
McCarthy opened talks over a new deal earlier this year and an agreement has now been found between the player, who has cemented his place as Southampton’s No 1, and the St Mary’s side.
Manager Ralph Hasenhuttl has started the 31-year-old in the first two league games against Everton and Manchester United, in what is a clear sign of his thinking going forward, after the end of last season saw the Austrian rotate his goalkeepers on a weekly basis.
He wanted to give McCarthy and Fraser Forster, who both had 12 months remaining on their contracts at the time, an equal opportunity to show their credentials. And the former Reading and Crystal Palace keeper is the one who has been backed by Hasenhuttl to be his No 1 for the season ahead.
The Southampton manager stated last week that one of the two goalkeepers would stay and the other would go in the summer of 2022. And The Athletic has since learned that replacing Forster is going to be a top priority at the end of this campaign.
“We will definitely extend the contract of one of the two keepers, then the other one will leave,” Hasenhuttl revealed earlier this month. “I think that, in the future, we will look to sign a new goalkeeper.”
The club want to bring in a young goalkeeper who will become McCarthy’s understudy and, hopefully, soak up the advice shared by the experienced professional.
There is also the realisation that McCarthy, who won his sole England cap so far three years ago, will rise to the challenge once the new addition is brought in. He has shown in recent years that he doesn’t become flummoxed when the pressure is turned up, which is viewed as one of his biggest strengths.
It’s that composure and belief in his ability that helps him grow rather than shrink at the first sight of pressure.
When Angus Gunn joined from Manchester City in the summer of 2018, many thought it was the beginning of the end for McCarthy at Southampton. But he remained as the club’s starting keeper for much of that season and duly won the No 1 shirt back only a couple of months into the 2019-20 campaign. Gunn was sold to Norwich City two months ago.
McCarthy has remained as the club’s first-choice goalkeeper ever since, and impressed figures behind the scenes with his standout performances during the first half of the 2020-21 campaign, where he kept seven Premier League clean sheets before the year was out. This was second only to Aston Villa’s Emiliano Martinez, who had eight.
He then tested positive for COVID-19 after the West Ham match at the end of December and missed the famous win over reigning champions Liverpool a week later, with Forster starting in goal and keeping a clean sheet. The rest of the campaign turned out to be a disaster for the club, who won only four more Premier League matches and suffered a 9-0 thrashing at Manchester United in February.
Forster and McCarthy both struggled on the run-in, although not knowing whether they would be starting or sitting on the bench from game to game is a glaring mitigating factor.
Several clubs, aware that he was going into the final year of his contract, started showing an interest in McCarthy but he is settled and knows he has plenty more to offer, so was determined to extend his five-year stay at St Mary’s.
With Hasenhuttl’s confirmation that one goalkeeper will leave the club after this season unless there is a dramatic shift in strategy, this will be somewhat of a farewell tour for Forster. The 33-year-old joined from Celtic in 2014 and quickly established himself as one of the Premier League’s best shot-stoppers, helping Southampton side qualify finish sixth under Ronald Koeman and qualify for the Europa League.
He was dropped by Mauricio Pellegrino in December 2017 and didn’t return to the team until the end of the 2018-19 season. Forster was sent on loan back to Celtic for the 2019-20 campaign, where he helped them win a ninth consecutive Scottish title.
There were reports linking him with a permanent return to Celtic Park following his loan success but a deal couldn’t be struck as Southampton wanted a sale rather than another loan. The six-cap England international returned to St Mary’s and battled with McCarthy for the starting job. And he now looks set to end what will be an eight-year association with Southampton once this season draws to a close next May, paving the way for the club to search for his replacement.
After the Gunn move didn’t work out, the club will be keen to ensure they get their recruitment for this position right at the next time of asking.
