Elijah Just is taking transfer rumours linking him with Celtic in his stride.
The Motherwell star has been one of the standout players in this season’s Scottish Premiership, contributing to an excellent campaign at Fir Park.
He scored the opening goal in Celtic’s 3-1 win over Motherwell earlier this month, one of the midfielder’s seven goal contributions since the turn of the year.
Unsurprisingly, this has led to reports that Celtic are paying close attention to Just, as he was asked about in an interview this week.
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Elijah Just says Celtic rumours ‘no surprise’
Asked about the rumours in an interview with FIFA. “As for the speculation, I think that’s normal when you’re doing well but I’ve still got so much football to play, including the World Cup this year…
“Let alone the rest of my contract, so it’s not something I’m thinking about at all.
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“It also helps that we’re doing really well and when I bump into fans, a lot of them tell me that this is one of the best Motherwell teams they’ve seen, and my time at the club has exceeded all expectations.
“Away from the pitch it’s just been so easy to integrate into society.
“Walking around Glasgow with different restaurants and events that are going on, because everything’s in English, it’s just so much easier.
“It really is like living a different life from when my girlfriend and I were in Denmark and Austria, where it’s just so much more difficult when you don’t understand what’s going on.”
He also discussed picking up some Scottish lingo, saying: “Let’s say that the [New Zealand] coach Darren Bazeley comes up to me and says that I need to go and man-mark someone on the corner post.
“I’ll say, ‘I cannae do that.’ That’s the one piece of vocabulary that I’ve been trying to use more, how the locals here say that you cannot do something by using that slang word ‘cannae.’”
Just? Maswanhise? Mulligan? Someone else?
The career of Celtic target Elijah Just
Despite making his New Zealand debut at age 19, it took Just some time to start making his mark in European football.
He worked with Jens Berthel Askou at Horsens in Denmark before moving to St Polten in Austria, where he spent last season on loan.
Since reuniting with his former boss in Lanarkshire, Just has been a revelation. A left-footed player, he essentially operates as a number ten, roaming the final third.
With seven goals and six assists, he has made his mark with attacking contributions, but he has also been credited for his effort out of possession as a willing runner.
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