Chris Sutton doesn’t see any benefit in Josip Juranovic leaving Celtic during the current transfer window.
In midweek Fabrizio Romano tweeted about clubs watching the Celtic defender with an expectation that Juranovic would leave in the next few months.
No clubs or price tag was mentioned but it did jar a nerve and bring a sense of perspective to Celtic’s transfer activities- players have to be sold to identify the next crop that are brought in.
Kris Ajer’s transfer to Brentford last summer funded a new look defence with Carl Starfelt and Juranovik bought last summer and Cameron Carter-Vickers earlier this month.
Everyone in the game understands the transfer cycle but writing in the Daily Record, Sutton expects Juranovic to be a Celtic player until at least the end of 2022.
If Juranovic is part of that on top of a successful Champions League campaign, Celtic could be reaching their Kieran Tierney levels of asking price by January. That also has to be the thought process for the player. He’s in a stable position going into a very exciting six months.
Why would he even think of leaving? For the same reasons that Celtic could benefit, Juranovic could pick his club if he excels from now until the end of December.
Celtic had a successful model which bought talent, made it better and sold for a profit. The shelf life for the likes of van Dijk and Dembele was two years. They veered away from that with the likes of Odsonne Edouard and Kristoffer Ajer, but that was just because of Ten in a Row.
To make it work, they have to let guys go at the right time. It’s been proven that’s not after one season, Which means for Postecoglou’s signings, that’s not now. The manager is working to add to what he’s got. Not to have to replace any key men.
Which is why I’m fairly convinced Celtic won’t be selling anyone key to their plans. After all, at this precise time, what would be the sense?
Celtic paid Legis Warsaw around £2.5m when they signed Juranovic last year on a five year contract.
There has been no sign of the player angling for a move, every comment, interview and social media post has implied that he is happy and settled but like Tierney and others before and since the option of multiplying your wages four or five times becomes too strong to resist with the same true for the club when offered a massive profit on a recent signing.
