Celtic have a 50/50 chance of getting a deal for Legia Warsaw’s Josip Juranovic over the line, according to Polish outlet Sportowe Fakty.
The popular website claims that Celtic have been holding an interest in Juranovic for some time. However, with Legia’s failure to qualify for the UCL, the sale of the player has now become more likely.
Sportowe Fakty report that that player’s agent is indeed in talks with Celtic. They claim that those involved in discussions believe the deal has a 50% chance of going through. However, they report that behind the scenes, there is a lot of ongoing work to move the right-back on.
Juranovic is into the final year of his contract in Warsaw. This means the summer window represents the final chance for them to rake in a substantial fee.
Sky Sports say the player could cost Celtic £2.5m. However, Sportowe Fakty say Legia could receive up to €4m [£3.4m] for the Croatian international. No deal is said to be imminent.
Celtic are in desperate need for further right-back options. As things stand, only Anthony Ralston remains as an option in the position.
Celtic don’t have the time to stall on Josip Juranovic
Let’s put this bluntly. Celtic have effectively until Wednesday, August 18th at midnight to have Juranovic signed up and in the squad for the Europa League playoff tie against Alkmaar. That is, of course, assuming we see off Jablonec on Thursday night.
That means we have one week to get a quality right-back in the door. If we genuinely go into a tie against a top Eredivisie team without a high-quality full-back, we’re in big trouble.
Reports in Poland may say that no deal is soon, but the truth is it needs to be. For Celtic’s sake, we can’t continue to just behave as if everything is fine as it stands.
Yes, Rangers are in a bit of a crisis. Yes, we’ve drawn level with them in the Premiership title race. And yes our performance levels have risen over the last week. But that doesn’t mean the need to strengthen priority areas should be relaxed. If anything, it should be all the more reason to build on our confidence by producing some big signings for the club.
Celtic need to push Legia for an answer here. Ideally, we would actually have him in for Hearts on Sunday. That way he could have some sessions with his new teammates and a match to get used to things. That, however, looks extremely unlikely.
But let’s not kid ourselves. Going to Holland with Ralston as our first-choice right-back is far too risky. Regardless of whether he performed well against Dundee or not.
In other news, Report: Leeds make progress in transfer talks for Celtic youngster Leo Hjelde
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