Josip Juranovic leaving Celtic in January was seen as a major blow by most fans. The Croatian full-back had been a starter for the club since he arrived a couple of summers back from Legia Warsaw. But after a superb World Cup campaign, his exit felt almost inevitable, with him being linked with clubs like Chelsea, Manchester United and several others.
Ultimately, his move to Union Berlin was a bit of a surprise one. But the German club are putting up an unlikely challenge for the Bundesliga this season and Juranovic has made his presence felt there since arriving.
It looks like the arrival of Alistair Johnston had a lot to do with the departure of Juranovic in the middle of the campaign though. Celtic announced a deal for the Canadian full-back, before the January transfer window had even opened.
As reported by Glasgow Live, regarding the matter, Juranovic said:
"“I had a really good relationship with the fans. I really loved it. It was a tough time to move way, but that’s life. I was a little bit sad Celtic didn’t try to keep me as a player there. But that is football. You can’t know your future.“To be honest I was a little bit surprised because I was playing in the World Cup and preparing for my next game. Some of my friends called me and said they’d signed a new full back, what’s your opinion about that?“I was just putting it to the side and concentrating on the World Cup, as it’s the biggest stage in football and I wanted to perform well. In my mind I was thinking, we would have three full backs and someone will be on the bench and someone in the stands with their family.“I knew I would maybe not play two games in a row and maybe play the third one. I didn’t like some of that stuff – because of the national team. If you are not playing regularly for your club, you won’t get called up for the national team. That’s the main reason why I left.”"
Juranovic makes unexpected claim about his Celtic exit in January
Now, rumours had suggested that Celtic had failed to agree a new contract extension with Juranovic recently. If accurate, then it is not hard to see why the Hoops would consider letting him go.
Add that to the fact that he is 27 years of age and was coming off of a superb World Cup campaign with the Croatia national team as they overdelivered on expectations and finished third. Juranovic himself was one of the standouts, and his performance up against Vinicius Junior of Brazil will be remembered for some time by those who saw it.
Thus, if there was a time that Celtic were going to let Juranovic go, then this was it. And to be very honest, Johnston has done a great job since coming in.
We wish Juranovic nothing but the best of luck at Union Berlin though. And hopefully he can win some silverware in Germany as well.