Celtic have continued to back Ange Postecoglou in the transfer market and brought in two new players in the form of Yuki Kobayashi and Alistair Johnston. The Japanese centre-back was playing at Vissel Kobe before this, while the Canadian international was a standout in the MLS with CF Montreal.
While Kobayashi is expected to get some time to adjust to his new surroundings, the same might not be true for Johnston, with rumours suggesting that Josip Juranovic will be on his way out of the club in January. And with Croatia progressing to the World Cup semi-finals, that is starting to seem inevitable at this point.
Johnston himself was impressive at the World Cup, and actually faced Croatia in the group stages. And now, it looks like he is Celtic’s replacement for Juranovic at right-back, although Anthony Ralston will want to make the position his own as well.
Johnston has earned some high praise recently though and been compared to Gary Neville. While speaking with Football Scotland, his old coach Patrice Gheisar said about the Canadian star:
"“I think if you read Sir Alex Ferguson’s book, he always said that one of his most loyal players to him was Gary Neville.“That if Gary Neville was a second quicker, he would have been one of the top full-backs and that if he was two inches taller, he would have been one of the top centre-backs.“But in today’s world, those kind of players that we call hybrids have become very celebrated, so for me he is a version of Gary Neville – someone extremely reliable and consistent, and someone who can play full-back and centre-back.“He’s a coach’s dream because that way you can play a back three, you can play a back five. He gives you choices when there are problems, whereas generally when there are problems you have to make substitutions to fix it.”"
Celtic signing has been compared to Manchester United legend
It is safe to say that Neville is one of the most legendary players in Manchester United history. As a result, being compared to someone of his pedigree is high praise indeed.
Johnston is certainly a very versatile player. He mostly plays as a right-back and that is the role that he would be expected to fulfil at Celtic but at the same time, he has the versatility to play as a centre-back in a back three, if the situation calls for it.
Although Celtic do not play with a back three, it is certainly a good option to have. The important thing though will be how Johnston adjusts to the Scottish game, coming from a different continent altogether.