GO RADIO PUNDIT Stephen McGinn has voiced his belief that Josip Juranovic has played his last game for Celtic before the Qatar World Cup.
Argentina’s Lionel Messi in action with Croatia’s Josip Juranovic REUTERS/Carl Recine
McGinn, who currently plays with St Mirren, has added a twist to the rumours surrounding the Croatian’s future.
Every Celtic fan has accepted that Juranovic will be departing the Hoops in January, with rumours about his future circulating since summer. Celtic have already got their replacement in, with Alistair Johnston signing for the Hoops before Juranovic inevitably leaves in January.
McGinn voiced his belief on The Go Radio Football Show, adding that he suspects the agent is meeting clubs to inform them of Celtic’s valuation of the player.
He said:
“I think with the agent and I think the way Celtic have moved with Alistair Johnson, I think they’ve maybe given the agent a fee before the World Cup.
“I know they could maybe go back and say, ‘He’s had that much of a World Cup, stick your £15m, we want that now.’
“I would have thought that the way football works, they might have been given a figure.
“But he’s been so good he’s had such a good World Cup I think with getting to the semi-final that takes him up to at least the third-place playoff, which would rule him out of Celtic’s next few games.
“I think he’s played his last game for Celtic.
“I think he would be given a week anyway to recover after the World Cup.
“So I think he’s played his last game and it’s just a matter of where he goes and how much he goes for.”
He’ll likely feature before he leaves, I don’t see him leaving on the 1st of January, and I expect to see him in the starting lineup for the Glasgow Derby. Although Celtic have a replacement in already, he can’t be registered until January, and he won’t make his debut in a Glasgow Derby at Ibrox.
