Jozo Simunovic has emerged as a target for Premier League side Southampton as the centre back looks to make a return to football after being released by Celtic. According to Goal, the former Celtic man is the target of Bundesliga pair Augsburg and Stuttgart.
Although the Saints are reportedly keen to bolster their backline and free agent Simunovic could provide a cheap option. The player, meanwhile, is probably more in favour of a move to Germany as he would likely get more game time.
The Croatian defender joined from Dinamo Zagreb in 2015 following Virgil Van Dijk’s departure for Southampton.
The 26-year-old signed a contract extension back in 2017 for four-years and it was expected that the club would exercise the option of the fourth year after his impressive domestic displays; however, Celtic opted to let the player go to make space in the squad for the arrival of Shane Duffy.
Šimunović will be remembered for that tackle on Kenny Miller in the 5-1 win at Ibrox in April 2017 and he left the club having won five Premiership titles and a number of trophies as well. Hopefully the medical is successful and he can get back to playing. He was a good servant to Celtic but injuries meant that Neil Lennon and the club felt that they maybe needed a new defender in.
In retrospect, Celtic will probably regret letting trio Simunovic, Craig Gordon and Jonny Hayes go especially when you consider the problems that have emerged at the back for Neil Lennon’s side.
Best of luck to Jozo, wherever he ends up.
