With Brendan Rodgers returning to Celtic we are often reminded of the success that was enjoyed during the Irishman’s first term in charge at Celtic Park. One man that was a pivotal part of that success was Jozo Šimunović.
The Croatian defender joined from Dinamo Zagreb in 2015 following Virgil Van Dijk’s departure for Southampton. Despite appearing certain that he would leave for Torino in Rodgers’ first season at the club, Jozo progressed into forming a strong partnership with Dedryck Boyata as Celtic sealed the Invicible Treble that season.
However, seven years later, he is now unattached and has been since leaving Celtic in 2020.
The 28-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. This was, on reflection, a poor decision by the club but ultimately the fact that Šimunović hasn’t found a new club suggests that there were long term injury issues.
Šimunović will be remembered for that tackle on Kenny Miller in the 5-1 win at Ibrox in April 2017 and he leaves the club having won five Premiership titles and a number of trophies as well. Hopefully 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.
Jozo made an appearance at the event for Scott Brown and Mikel Lustig at the Hydro and spoke fondly about his time at the club. He was actually due to be in attendance as a supporter rather than a guest, such is the humble nature of the big man. Now, he is studying towards a career in football executive management and coaching.
