Chris Sutton believes that Celtic should be aiming for a club record fee if Josip Juranovic is sold next month.
It isn’t often that a Scottish based player is involved in a World Cup semi-final, reality suggests that Juranovic won’t be a Celtic player for much longer once the action in Qatar comes to a close.
Clubs in England and Spain have been linked with the Celtic defender with the signing of Alistair Johnston suggesting that a departure is being anticipated.
In his various media roles Sutton almost acts as an ambassador for Scottish football, in midweek Kyle Walker, Trent Alexander-Arnold and Kieran Tripier will be looking on from the outside as a Celtic player battles for a place in the final of the World Cup.
Pitching an achievable, realistic fee is an art in transfer negotiations with Sutton telling Daily Record readers how he would deal with Juranovic’s likely departure:
I believe they should try to keep him until next summer as he’s such an important player and Celtic have a title to be secure. But, if circumstances dictate that he is to go next month, it should be for a premium rate.
Of course, the two biggest aspects are maybe the fact he is playing in Scotland and the fact he is 27 years of age.
Firstly, which league he plays should be of no concern. He’s performed in the Champions League and just been Man of the match against one of the world’s best teams and one of their best players in Vinicius Junior.
Secondly, 27 is not old. He’s possibly approaching his prime. There may not be major sell-on value for a buyer, but when has that ever bothered the major clubs around Europe?
My experiences tell me that a lot of buying within the bigger leagues that gets done in January has a degree of panic or desperation about it.
I’m not comparing them as players, but Kieran Tierney, a full back, left Celtic to join Arsenal for £25m. Yes, Kieran was younger, but Juranovic is now going to have a World Cup semi-final on his CV. He and Croatia might even win the tournament.
Juranovic is a first-pick for a country who are consistently high performers at major tournaments and in major competitions.
Given the position of it being mid-season, given the fact Juranovic will just have come off a starring role at a World Cup and given the fact Celtic do not need to sell, they should aim high.
Ange Postecoglou says there will be movement in and out of the door to generate money to buy better. Right now, Juranovic can generate plenty. If it means they take less in the summer and a second straight title is in the bag, then that’s a fair trade off.
Postecoglou has Tony Ralston primed to play at Aberdeen on Saturday, in the medium term it seems more likely that Alistair Johnston will be competing for that position than Juranovic.
The value of the player is how much it would cost to proportionally replace him.