It was always odds on that Josip Juranovic was the most likely Celtic star to be moving on in the January transfer window. The player was mentioned in despatches by none other than Fabrizio Romano last summer linking him with a move to England and that tweet would only have come about if the transfer expect had been given a heads up from a party involved somewhere along the line, and it’s hard to jump to any other conclusion than this was from Juranovic’s camp.
Croatian national team right back Josip Juranovic is expected to leave Celtic FC this summer as many clubs are following him. 🇭🇷 #transfers
Jurankvic is attracting interests from Premier League clubs too after great season for club and country.
— Fabrizio Romano (@FabrizioRomano) June 20, 2022
Celtic, of course know all about this and while the player is on a decent contract running until 2026, he has now played in the Champions League group stages with Celtic and is currently preparing to start of for Croatia in the World Cup in Qatar.
And for the clubs with the biggest chequebooks he’ll represent one of the bargains of the tournament, even if the sum involved appears to be very good business for Ange Postecoglou.
The Celtic manager has already stated that as far as the January window is concerned he’s already done his business and knows who the players arriving are. He has also braced The Celtic support for one or maybe two departures and most fans have had Juranovic at the top of their list of likely leavers for quite some time.
So this morning’s news from Stephen McGowan at the Scottish Daily Mail that talks of a contract extension with the player have broken down and the club are now bracing themselves for bids when the window open comes as no great shock to anyone who is Celtic minded.
Celtic paid Legia Warsaw £2.5m for Juranovic in August 2021 and after a spell at the left hand side of The Celtic defence, he eventually moved over to dislodge Anthony Ralston as the first choice right back, although the two have often shared responsibilities in that position, but the Croatian has been when push comes to shove the top choice.
On Saturday against Ross County Juranovic didn’t play and Ange Postecoglou unusually singled out Tony Ralston for special praise. Juranovic is 27 years old, and is contracted to Celtic until 2026. Selling him at this stage and turning a significant profit will suit Celtic and as Ange Postecoglou has said, the funds will be used to make Celtic stronger.
“If our players do well and move on to so-called greener pastures, if that is what they want, then there is an opportunity for me to improve the team,” Ange Postecoglou said. “Because, if they are going to leave us, we are going to get some revenue in. I don’t fear losing our players. I see that as part of the process.
“If you look at clubs who do well at Champions League level that are our size, what do they do? They develop players, sell them on, and replace them with better versions, hopefully. That is where I think our growth lies.
“I think it is part of the process. I don’t fear that. I think that has to happen for us to grow. We need to be bringing money in to be able to keep bringing better players to our club.”
Let’s hope that Josip Juranovic has an outstanding World Cup and in doing so increases interest in signing him and forces up the price Celtic can achieve. The club transfer record stands at £25m for Kieran Tierney can it get close to that?
