Celtic were close to Manchester City player in the summer

Celtic were very active in the recently concluded summer transfer window. The club managed to sign twelve players overall, with ten of them arriving on a permanent basis while two are on loan till the end of the season although the club holds an option to buy in both of those deals.

Thus, it is safe to say that the squad has undergone quite a transformation ever since the arrival of Ange Postecoglou as manager. And that was required after the Hoops finished trophyless and 25 points behind the Rangers in the Premiership table last season.

One of the strongest areas in the squad at the moment is right-back. Heading into the season, many people viewed the position as a weakness but the brilliant form of Anthony Ralston combined with the signing of Josip Juranovic have been a welcome boost for Postecoglou’s side.

It does appear though that they were close to Manchester City’s Yan Couto at one point of time but the move did not end up happening due to various reasons. While speaking on The Celtic Exchange Podcast and as reported by This is Futbol, journalist Anthony Joseph said:

"“One that Celtic were close to was Yan Couto, the right-back from Man City, and he was invited to Celtic Park to watch Jablonec at home.“He came up to watch the game, he must have enjoyed his day out and the atmosphere but maybe didn’t fancy coming back, but I think that was more for more personal reasons.“I was told that his partner was looking to be somewhere where she could work and speak Portuguese, obviously a Brazilian family, and there were a lot of Portuguese clubs in for him and Braga were very keen, and that was always looking more likely.“But Celtic, I say came close, in the fact that the player was actually at Celtic Park and accepted an invite to come along.”"

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Celtic were close to Couto before Juranovic move

While Couto could have turned out to be a good signing for the Hoops, it is safe to say that most of the club’s supporters are delighted with the addition of Juranovic.

Juranovic is a Croatian international and is coming off of a sensational season with Legia Warsaw. Brilliant going forward, he can be a great fit in Ange Postecoglou’s style of football and he even put in a decent performance against the Rangers on his debut despite featuring at left-back on the day.

Both Ralston and Juranovic look like brilliant options to have in the squad at this point of time and the biggest worry for Postecoglou regarding the right-back position would be giving both of them enough playing time moving forward. Of course, that is a good problem to have for any manager.