Celtic have made a decent return to action, winning both of their games after the World Club break, even though the performances might have left a lot to be desired. The club have another major worry going into the January transfer window though, and it is the future of Josip Juranovic at Parkhead.
Juranovic has been a nailed on starter for Celtic, since he joined from Legia Warsaw about 18 months back. His performances at the World Cup have raised the interest of several European giants though, as the Croatian was arguably the best right-back at the tournament.
One of the clubs who were linked with a potential move for Juranovic is West Ham United. But now, it looks like the Hammers are not expecting a busy January transfer window.
After a couple of brilliant seasons, West Ham United have struggled for results this time around. As reported by Evening Standard, David Moyes told talkSPORT:
"“I have to say the board did really well by us and spent a good amount of money in the summer, we brought in nine new players, which is more than anybody would want to do, really.“But we needed it because we’ve got a European campaign again and because of the amount of games we played in the year before.“Even this season I think we’ve played more games than any other Premier League team at this stage of the season, so we needed to add those players.“But January will probably be a no, unless we need something through injury or someone comes available.“But, in truth, I don’t see us doing much business, no.”"
Moyes’ latest comments will interest Celtic fans regarding the future of Juranovic
Thus, it looks like West Ham United are not looking like a very likely destination for Celtic’s World Cup standout.
But that does not mean that there will be a lack of possible destinations for Juranovic though, who has been linked with some of the biggest clubs in the world in recent times including Barcelona, Manchester United and Chelsea.
At the same time, Celtic have already added to their ranks at right-back as well by signing Alistair Johnston, who had a decent World Cup campaign himself as he was part of the Canadian national team.
Thus, there does seem to be a feeling of inevitability surrounding the departure of Juranovic, even though him leaving in the middle of the season would not be ideal at all. The club might have brought in Johnston, who has potential, but this will be his first season in Europe.