Celtic are reported to have missed out on the signing of Luka Ivanusec from Lokomotiv Zagreb.
Ivanusec was a team-mate of Filip Benkovic at the recent u-21 European Championships in Italy where he played in all three matches with Croatia losing to Romania and France before getting a 3-3 draw against England.
According to a report in The Sun Dinamo Zagreb have paid an upfront fee of £2.75m while Celtic’s offer of £4.5m was dependent on add-ons.
Reports from Croatia claimed Celts had offered a deal worth a total of £4.5million for the Lokomotiv Zagreb 20-year-old, who’s already a full international. That trumped Greeks Olympiakos but an eleventh-hour move by city rivals Dinamo saw the midfielder agree to the second-biggest transfer ever between two Croatian clubs. Dinamo were willing to pay the entire £2.75m fee up front. It’s understood the youngster also wanted to work under Dinamo coach Nenad Bjelica and he quickly agreed a five-year deal worth £1.75m.
Between the lines it looks like the agents involved have used Celtic’s interest to drive up the fee for the midfielder who appears to have a similar profile to David Turnbull.
Celtic agreed a fee with Motherwell believed to be around £2.75m in June for the midfielder but after a medical the move was called off.
Wth Celtic previously active in Croatia through Jozo Simunovic and Benkovic it’s very likely that they would be interested in Ivanusec.