Former Celtic star Kris Commons has sent a message to Celtic’s newest batch of ‘wantaways’ Josip Juranovic and Giorgos Giakoumakis who are being linked with moves to Italian minnows Monza, who are in a relegation battle in Series A and J-League side Urawa respectively.
Writing in his Monday morning column in Scottish Daily Mail Commons reckons that
“Josip Juranovic and Giorgos Giakoumakis look as if they’re heading for the Celtic exit. I just hope they’re going for the right reasons. The day he left Celtic, Joe Ledley walked out of Lennoxtown in tears. He didn’t want to leave to move to Crystal Palace, he was almost forced into it.
“Moving to Glasgow was a big deal for Kelvin Wilson. He got homesick for Nottingham when he was playing in Preston. But then he was playing in the Champions League against Barcelona and playing in the Europa League and winning titles.
“Kelvin had a young child down in Nottingham and eventually he went back to Nottingham Forest. But he didn’t realise how big it was until he was gone. I remember him saying: ‘I think I’ve made a mistake. There is nothing like Celtic.’ The trouble is that, once you’ve gone, you’ve gone.”
On the Joe Ledley reference Commons made, I actually spoke to Joe Ledley after his last match for Celtic which was a midweek game at Celtic Park if memory serves me right against Kilmarnock. Joe had won the man of the match and was up in the Number 7 restaurant where he stayed around for a while chatting (I was an invited guest that day). Asked about the transfer speculation it was clear that he didn’t want to leave but Celtic had accepted an offer and that basically was that.
Juranovic this season has performed in both the Champions League and the World Cup so you can maybe understand why he wants a big move to one of the top five leagues. However ending up a Monza seems a remarkable outcome.
Giorgos Giakoumakis has been a journeyman footballer who looked like making a real impact at Celtic under Ange Postecoglou. He is perhaps looking at the financial return more than anything else and that could explain his decision to go where the pay-packet is biggest and if that is at the Mitsubishi bankrolled J-League side Urawa then that’s where the money takes him.
But Commons quote from Kelvin Wilson is worth noting. “I think I’ve made a mistake. There is nothing like Celtic. The trouble is that, once you’ve gone, you’ve gone.”
The £7m fee isn’t even the weirdest part of the Juranovic thing, it’s the team he’s off to.
Extremely surprised at him choosing Monza after who he was linked with.
A strange deal, all things considered.
— GIGPOD🟢⚪️ (@gigpod) January 9, 2023
