Journalist, Dean Jones has told GiveMeSport, that Celtic star Josip Juranoic is ‘set to leave’ the club. Two Premier League sides have their eyes on the Croatian.
The clubs in question are Manchester United and Chelsea. It’s likely that Celtic know that Juranvoic’s time at with the club is coming to an end, as they recently signed Canadian right-back Alistair Johnston from CF Montreal.
Talks of Juranovic leaving Celtic Park go as far back as last summer, with Fabrizio Romano tweeting that the Celtic man was ‘expected’ to leave.
In his past two seasons with the Hoops, the 27-year-old has made 34 Scottish Premiership appearances.
Jones stated, ‘Outside of that we need to keep an eye on his defensive teammate Josip Juranovic, who is set to leave Celtic and has caught the eye of Manchester United. Other Premier League clubs including Chelsea are also believed to him on the radar. The Blues are drawing up candidates to compete with Reece James.’
TIF’s view on Jones’ comments…
We believe that Juranovic is one to keep an eye on in 2023, he could be set for a big move, judging by the clubs interested in him.
Both Man United and Chelsea are in need of depth in the right-back position. Juranovic would provide competition to Diogo Dalot, with Aaron Wan-Bissaka not being in the plans of Erik ten-Hag.
As for Chelsea, they would see Juranovic as someone who fan battle it out with Reece James for the right-back slot, they do have Cesar Azpilicueta, but the Spaniard is 33-years-old, meaning he’s reaching the backend of his career.
From his eight league appearances with Celtic this campaign, the Croatian has helped the Scottish side keep four clean sheets.
In addition, the 27-year-old could be used as an attacking outlet for either side. When compared to other full-backs in Europe’s top five leagues, the Champions League and the Europa League, Juranovic ranks in the top 4% of progressive passes (FBref).