Reports north of the border have suggested Celtic are close to brokering an agreement to take Forster on loan until the end of the season.
The Parkhead club are desperate to land a goalkeeper and have made several enquiries about Forster, who was on the bench on Saturday for the visit of Arsenal.
Pardew faces a delicate balancing act with his goalkeepers, though, with long-serving Steve Harper understandably keen to get back in the first-team picture, but Tim Krul the current first choice following a pretty much faultless pre-season.
If the truth was known - Pardew had hoped for better things from Forster in pre-season - but the keeper has looked very uncomfortable taking crosses and has dropped the odd gaff.
The Jockos report that Forster will head to Celtic for the season with the Hoops having an option to buy him for £2 million at the end of the season.
A change of heart from Pardew, who said: "Fraser can play at a better level than the Scottish Premier League.
"I watched him several times last season and the quality in that league is pretty poor.
"The only games of any value are the old firm fixtures, and a couple of those were rubbish."
Lennon now plans to have him registered before tonight's 11pm deadline so he would be eligible to play in tomorrow's Europa League play-off opener with Swiss side Sion.