Rubin Kazan defender Filip Uremovic has disclosed that he almost joined Celtic this summer. The centre-back revealed that he had talks with the Hoops, but that Celtic ended them when they signed another player instead.
“I had the option to move to Celtic this summer, but the transfer did not happen” he said, as reported by the Daily Record.
“Signed another player”
“The main reason I talked to Celtic was because of the attraction of them playing in the Champions League. But the reason the deal didn’t take place was because they went out and signed another player instead.”
The player Uremovic must be referring to is Christopher Jullien, who joined the Hoops for £7 million from Toulouse earlier this summer.
Uremovic is a regular for the Croatian under-21 side, having made nine appearances for them. He was a regular for Kazan last season, making 27 appearances.
Hoops elected to sign more experienced player
It is quite interesting that Celtic decided to sign a more experienced player like Jullien than Uremovic, who is the start of his career.
In the past Uremovic would probably have been signed, so he could be sold on in the future. That might not happen with Jullien.
This could signal a change in Celtic’s transfer policy. The Hoops could be moving on from the policy of signing players then selling them on for a profit, when the situation calls for it.
Only time will tell if Uremovic would have done a good job for Celtic, as hopes are high that Jullien will be a successful signing for the Hoops.
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