Celtic’s signing of Julian Araujo is following a familiar pattern.
That pattern being when player joins on a straight six-month loan, excels, becomes a fan-favourite and the clamour to bring them permanently becomes impossible to ignore.
This puts Celtic on the back foot in negotiations, leading to an inflated transfer fee in the summer. Of course, this is exactly what we saw with Adam Idah.
The direction of travel with Araujo seems to be heading exactly the same way.
When Alistair Johnston returns to fitness, would you pick him over Julian Araujo?
Celtic’s Julian Araujo follows Adam Idah pattern
Araujo feels born to play for Celtic. His conduct at Ibrox on Sunday, which saw him rile up several Rangers players while masterfully dodging a second yellow card, was reminiscent of Scott Brown at his peak.
Araujo – again, similarly to Brown – knows how to celebrate too, and his swinging from the crossbar upon the win at the weekend will become iconic.
READ MORE: Liam Scales says he was Celtic’s fifth penalty-taker vs Rangers, informed late of captaincy
He has started every domestic game he has been available for, barring Auchinleck Talbot, since Martin O’Neill’s return in place of Wilfried Nancy.
In the absence of Alistair Johnston, he has become the club’s undisputed first-choice right-back. The inevitable return of Johnston could be a justification for not pursuing Araujo permanently.
But if Celtic do, Bournemouth will likely target a return on their £9 million investment in the defender, at least.
By not negotiating a purchase option in the winter, the club have opened the door for his parent club to demand an eight-figure fee in the summer, pricing the Hoops out of a move.
A similar situation could evolve with Marcelo Saracchi, though the Uruguayan’s market value isn’t as daunting as Araujo’s. The left-back’s agent has already met with Michael Nicholson.
Will the same happen for Araujo? He certainly seems to be enjoying his time in Glasgow.
Will Celtic regret not inserting an option to buy in their Julian Araujo loan from Bournemouth?
Julian Araujo on Martin O’Neill and Celtic
Speaking on the Celtic FC Podcast, Araujo made his admiration for O’Neill clear, saying: “Yeah, I think I’m enjoying it a lot. You can see that I am, I think.
“They’re letting me play freely, I think. They’re not really giving me much in my head to do. They’re not giving me a lot of specifics.
“I think they’re just keeping it really simple for me. They know my capabilities. They know what I’m doing.
“I think Martin O’Neill is just very… honest. He knows what he wants, he knows what he’s going to tell you. He’ll tell you if you play bad, he’ll tell you if you play well. He’ll tell you what he doesn’t want you to do!
“But it’s been really good. I’ve been enjoying it, definitely. I think you can see that the squad is also enjoying it.
Receive a digest of our best Celtic content each week direct to your mailbox
