Josip Juranovic is flattered by transfer speculation but has his focus firmly on the Champions League in a Celtic shirt.
A year ago the defender was preparing for his second season at Legia Warsaw but a £2.5m transfer to Celtic put him in the spotlight. Scoring with penalties away to Real Betis and Bayer Leverkusen highlighted his importance to Celtic while he made a growing contribution at international level as Croatia qualified for the World Cup Finals in Qatar.
Mixing it with Luca Modric brings additional attention, especially when Croatia signed the season off by winning away to Denmark and France.
Transfer speculation is inevitable but with a contract running until May 2026 Celtic are in no rush to sell with the player happy where he is although naturally aware of other possibilities that could soon become available.
Picking up on an interview with Croatian TV, The Sun reports Juranovic saying:
I hope there was something in the stories, but honestly I didn’t even ask our manager or anything about it. I didn’t care. I have to keep my feet firmly on the ground. It was Atletico Madrid after all, but I’m at a big club already, Celtic.
Finally I have the chance to play in the Champions League here. Just to hear the atmosphere, that anthem and to get to play on that stage.
At Croatia, when you have a player like Josko Guardiol, who has been mentioned to make an £80 million move, as a teammate, you immediately gain great confidence being in the same side as someone like him.
Then we have players like Martin Erlic, Josip Sutalo and Josip Stanisic – they have all won good transfers to big clubs. So the future is bright for Croatian football.
If Juranovic impresses in the Champions League then in the World Cup Finals it might become difficult for Celtic to resist some of the offers that come in.
Yesterday the former Legia Warsaw defender made his first pre-season appearance, enjoying 45 minutes in the 4-2 win over Banik Ostrava.
