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Josip Juranovic did a wonderful job during his time at Celtic. He arrived in the summer of 2021 from Legia Warsaw and established himself as a starter from day one. He was also a leader in the dressing room and as a result, the Croatian full-back deserves his fair share of credit for what the club were able to achieve during the first 18 months of Ange Postecoglou’s run as manager.
Juranovic would leave Celtic in January though, joining Bundesliga side Union Berlin. A regular starter leaving in the middle of the campaign was viewed as a major blow by most fans but since then, Alistair Johnston has come in and expertly taken up the mantle at right-back.
On the other hand, Juranovic should be happy about the move he made as well. Union Berlin are competing for the Bundesliga title this season and are still in the UEFA Europa League as well.
Some of Juranovic’s recent comments raised quite a few eyebrows though. But as reported by the Scottish Daily Mail [04/03 print edition, back page] (via 67 Hail Hail), when asked about the player’s comments, Postecoglou said:
"“I don’t really care, to be honest. Josip was outstanding for us for 18 months. He won trophies and represented his country at a World Cup. Now he has gone on and he is doing fantastically well and I couldn’t be happier for him. We continue on our journey now. The rest of it is just a soap opera for the masses.“We are a football club that is consistently trying to be successful. I said previously that we have got to be really aggressive in the way that we push this squad to another level because we still believe we need to improve and get better.“And the only way you can do that is to make sure that you are constantly looking to improve and reinvest in the squad. From our perspective there are players who left in January after contributing to this football club and that is all we want. They have gone on with our best wishes but my role is to reinvest that money and to try to make us a stronger team.”"
Celtic boss gives brutal reply to Juranovic’s comments
Till now, Celtic do not seem to have felt the absence of Juranovic in the team. On one hand, Johnston has done a wonderful job as an individual, while playing at right-back.
On the other hand, the team have continued to do a great job as well, winning one football match after another. Recently, they won the Scottish League Cup final against the Rangers.
Thus, Celtic are continuing to do well even after the Croatian right-back has left in the middle of the campaign. Of course, a lot of credit goes to the club’s recruitment, who identified Johnston. He has taken to Scottish football like a duck to water.