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Name: Josip Juranović
aka: Josip Juranovic
Born: 16 Aug 1995
Birthplace: Zagreb, Croatia
Signed: 21 August 2021 (from Legia Warsaw, £2.5m)
Left: 22 January 2023 (to Union Berlin, £7.5m potentially rising to £10m)
Position: Right-back, Full-back, Defender
Debut: Rangers 1-0 Celtic, SP, 29 Aug 2021
Squad No.: 88
Internationals: Croatia
International Caps: [TBC at end of career]
International Goals: [TBC at end of career]
Biog
“The city is great, the crowds even better, the team-mates amazing.”
Josip Juranovic (2022)
Juranovic arrived at Celtic at the start of the 2021/22 season under new manager Ange Postecoglu, just as Celtic had begun a turnaround after the previous disastrous season. Celtic actually won 6-0 v St Mirren in the league the day he signed. The support was crying out for better defenders and he was seen to potentially help but had to now challenge Ralston for the right back role after Ralston had incredibly hit a rich vein of form after having been written off.
Made a forced debut in a one nil defeat to Sevco in August 2021, having to play left-back as Greg Taylor was out injured, he still gave a good account of himself in a disappointing match. He then soon scored his debut goal with a great penalty take v Real Betis in a 4-3 defeat away in the Europa League, but he was off the mark at least, and from there on in he was a great success with Celtic.
He was a near complete full-back. A fully committed tackler without any clumsiness, easily intercepted opposition attacks before they began, and was unafraid to take the ball up field too to create attacks. A cultured defender, he was clearly a fine player who was enjoying being at a resurgent Celtic. His reading of the game & of opposition players was superb.
Juranovic was as vital to the defence as Joe Hart & Carter-Vickers, and this was shown by the minimal number of goals conceded that season in the league. Admittedly, he had to improve his crosses when he surged upfield as his final ball could be poor and he wasn’t necessarily the fastest full-back but his positives definitely out-weighed any concerns. He was kept on his toes by squad colleague Tony Ralston who also was challenging for the same team spot, but Juranovic was ahead in the queue.
One of his most notable matches was v Sevco in the season defining 3-0 league win in February 2022 which took Celtic to the top of the league. He was simply exceptional, and had Sevco’s left-winger (the much vaunted Ryan Kent) in his backpocket. He even received plaudits from many supporters higher than that for Hatate who had scored a double in that same match.
An injury sustained after a Scottish Cup defeat to Sevco, lost him for the run-in to the league title, but he was not forgotten and all looked forward to his return. It was a double winning season and it had been an incredible season to follow for the support with Juranovic one of the standouts.
One of his key attributes was his confidence, exemplified by being the main penalty-kick taker. When Giakoumakis was once given a penalty kick to take & win the match, he then missed it costing Celtic the points (the game ended in a draw), it highlighted to all how good a penalty kick taker that Juranovic was overall, scoring five penalties that season, with three of the penalties coming in the disappointing Europa League run. He had to wait until August 2022 to score a goal from open play, in what was an easy 9-0 victory v Dundee Utd in the league. He’d have scored more but curiously Celtic were NOT being awarded many penalties domestically in contrast to Sevco where it had become a cliché for them to get a penalty regularly.
In a season that saw a massive turnaround in fortunes for Celtic domestically, he was another key player, and one who clearly stood out. Celtic won the league & cup double, and you could see his joy on field and in the celebrations on being part of this success.
His star was rising sharply with the inevitable reports of interest from the richer clubs down south and abroad. Bids according to reliable transfer commentators online had been made in the summer but thankfully rebuffed.
Into the new season and expectations were higher, and as much as he continued where he left off, a common opinion was that he was under performing to his potential. Granted Celtic were still a cut above the rest and raced to a significant lead in the league title challenge, it was felt that Juranovic was now looking to move on.
It was an open secret that his head had been turned by offers in the past summer, and when the manager remarked about squad changes after a poor Champions League campaign, many pointed to Juranovic who could be sold to help fund the changes. It had long been a financial reality at Celtic to sell on players to help fund new plans and ambitions at the club as well as to help balance the books.
His form though shouldn’t be downplayed, as he was still performing on the field and even finally scored a goal from open play. He always got stuck in and played his part in a side that clearly was developing and had opened up a nine point advantage over an imploding Sevco in the league. In certain ways, the higher expectations likely meant the benchmarks set now by observers were higher than before.
One of the more humorous incidents during his time at Celtic happened in a league match v Motherwell (Oct 2022) when a comical communication mix-up between Joe Hart and Juranovic let the opposition side equalise. The ball had been chested back to the keeper by Juranovic from what was a harmless cross but this back-pass ended up into an empty net. Celtic still won the game, and these silly situations do happen occasionally in matches.
Despite the fine domestic form, he did come unstuck on occasion in the Champions League group stage matches, most notably key games v Leipzig and Shakhtar Donestk. Admittedly, in part this was due to the more liberal attacking approach that the manager took in these games which meant the defence was more exposed, and Celtic paid the price repeatedly on the counter-attacks. A more conservative approach might have been more practical. He did have to come up against some exceptional talent in these group stage matches, such as Nkunku, Vinicious Junior & Mudryk and he’d often been left isolated to cover. On the other hand, he carried over this invaluable learning experience into the World Cup which paid off.
He will though rue his penalty miss v Real Madrid at the Bernabeu which would have equalised the scorelines, after which Celtic collapsed to lose 5-1. However, when all had expected him to step up and look the part he did underperform in the Champions League, and probably personified the Celtic in this campaign: good but not just playing to absolute potential at this level & time. On the other hand, the full backs were heavily targetted by all the sides, and it was a major challenge against more seasoned sides.
It reflected that he still had room to further develop, however no denying the great leaps he had made at his time at Celtic which had been a perfect move for his career. Anyone disputing this should note that prior to Celtic he’d played little for his national side, and never in the Champions League group stages. Celtic had helped make him the player he had become and for that he will be eternally grateful, with some credit to Legia Warsaw too.
In fairness to him, he’d been up against world class talent in the Champions League such as NKunku Vinicious Junior & Mudryk and he’d often been found isolated due to the tactics employed by the manager without much cover in these games. He learnt from it.
At his age, it is fair to argue in his case that it was now or never to move to one of the major leagues. The opportunity had come faster than even he could ever have anticipated, maybe with his career prior to Celtic he could only have dreamed of such a chance. It also allowed a big payday for the bean counters at Celtic.
However, after being linked with a number of blue-chip names for £15-20m, he ended up sold for £7.5m plus addons to Union Berlin, with all due respect a far less illustrious name than was expected.
Having cemented himself as the de facto first choice right back at Celtic, he had won major domestic honours and plaudits at Celtic, played in the Champions League, and then took this all together to play a major part in an incredible World Cup run with Croatia in Qatar (2022). Overall, he had achieved a great deal in his short time at Celtic with one scribe on @AthleticFC describing his rise as like a Cinderella story.
“His story is the Cinderella story of the Croatian national team, his story can be a great role model for all players trying to make a great career.”
Sasa Lugonjic, host of Nova TV in Croatia
There was still much more to achieve at Celtic but regardless he moved on to another challenge, and we wished him the best. He was a well liked and respected player.
Post-Celtic
[….]
World Cup in Qatar (2022)
“Did not expect to watch a Brazil-Croatia quarterfinal where the most important player on the pitch plays for Celtic”
John Muller @johnspacemuller (AthleticFC writer) (Dec 2022)
Juranovic arrived at the World Cup as one of the handful of representatives for Celtic, and he more than made every Celtic fan proud in an incredible run in the competition.
No one could forecast it, but up front in retrospect Croatia were in a group of death! Belgium were one of the favourites, and Morocco were to be semi-finalists (shocking everyone). An opening draw with Morocco did not exactly predict what a great tournament both sides were to have.
His Croatia side next had to face Canada where ironically his opposite number was the man lined up to potentially replace him at Celtic (Alistair Johnston), and after the match he had a chat with him on his time at Celtic. His side then drew with the much fancied Belgium side to just shade it through.
The odds were against Croatia in the knock out stages but they defied them with first defeating Japan in a tight competitive game that went to penalties. He played v fellow Celt Maeda (Croatia v Japan) in the round of 16, so wherever he went he was never far from Celtic, winning on penalties. In possibly the most touching moment of the tournament, he consoled his emotional Japanese colleague, which every Celt was humbled to see.
“Daizen is my friend and I congratulated him because he scored a goal in the World Cup and that is every player’s dream”.
He then became to the talk of the town amongst football analysts, after he won some ‘revenge’ against Vinicius when Croatia shocked everyone with a win v Brazil in the quarter-finals (again on penalties). Juranovic put in a man of the match performance. An incredible story that saw Croatia defy the odds to make the World Cup semi-finals for the second time in a row, and Juranovic being a key man in this journey was an incredible part of the story for Celtic.
It all came to an end in the semi finals with a Messi inspired Argentina defeating Croatia 3-0. So sadly not repeating the incredible feat of reaching the final as four years previously but at least this time Juranovic was part of the experience. No defence could contain Argentina’s Messi and Alvarez on the form they showed this night, and Argentina went on to lift the title.
Croatia National FA paid him a tribute on twitter paraphrasing the recent Celtic ethos : HNS @HNS_CFF “This guy never gets tired, @CelticFC . Thank you!”
Quotes
“Honestly, when I arrived in Glasgow I was a little sceptical, especially since the team won nothing last season. However, on the first day, the coach approached me and said: ‘This is a new Celtic, I want you in it’. He automatically brought a smile to my face – and since then it hasn’t left my face. It paid off, we are first in the league table with three points more than Glasgow Rangers. Upon our return from Doha, a big derby awaits us immediately, we are offered the opportunity to go six points clear. So everything is in our hands. The city is great, the crowds even better, the team-mates amazing. I’m looking forward to lifting the trophy with Celtic.”
Juranovic speaking to Croatian media outlet Dalmacija Danas, March 2022
“I hope there was something in the stories, but honestly I didn’t even ask our manager or anything about it. I didn’t care. I have to keep my feet firmly on the ground. It was Atletico Madrid after all, but I’m at a big club already, Celtic. At Croatia, when you have a player like Josko Guardiol, who has been mentioned to make an £80million move, as a teammate, you immediately gain great confidence being in the same side as someone like him.”
Josip Juranovic on transfer speculation to the major leagues (2022)
“Daizen is my friend and I congratulated him because he scored a goal in the World Cup and that is every player’s dream. But I also felt sad for him because he was crying. Football is about sportsmanship and I gave him a little kiss. He is a good friend of mine and he had such a good World Cup with Japan. I feel sad for him tonight, but happy for Croatia.”
Juranovic after defeating Japan (with fellow Celt Maeda in the opposing side) in the ‘Round of 16’ in World Cup 2022 in Qatar (Dec 2022)
“He’s certainly earned the right to dream…”
Joe Hart on Juranovic just prior to the World Cup semi-final (Dec 2022)
“If our players do well and move on to so-called greener pastures, if that is what they want, then there is an opportunity for me to improve the team. Because, if they are going to leave us, we are going to get some revenue in. I don’t fear losing our players. I see that as part of the process.”
Postecoglu (Nov 2022)
Celtic and Croatia defender Josip Juranovic says he consoled his Celtic team-mate Daizen Maeda after Croatia reached the World Cup quarter-finals at Japan’s expense via a penalty shoot-out. “Daizen is my friend and I congratulated him because he scored a goal in the World Cup and that is every player’s dream.”
Juranovic (Dec 2022)
“Managers want to see one-against-one battles. They want to see who drives who mad. In this case he [Juranovic] is basically telling Vinicius Jr ‘I am in charge here, I’m the boss.'”
German football great Jurgen Klinsmann on Josip Juranovic vs Brazil (Dec 2022)
“Did not expect to watch a Brazil-Croatia [World Cup] quarter-final where the most important player on the pitch plays for Celtic!”
John Muller @johnspacemuller (AthleticFC writer) (Dec 2022)
“His story is an amazing story. I think an amazing guy who had a very difficult run thru his career but he deserved everything that is happening to him. He played at third-tier Dubrava, he was the least paid player at Hadjuk Split(!) and then he went to Poland & Celtic, and now people are talking that he’s one of the best right-backs in this World Cup… His story is the Cinderella story of the Croatian national team. His story can be a great role model for all players trying to make a great career.”
Sasa Lugonjic, host of Nova TV in Croatia, The Athletic Football Podcast. Link: https://podfollow.com/1488521447/episode/3d522fa5e276b3fe2d64d925294a3db6b2418818/view
Ange Postecoglou when asked if Celtic will consider transfer offers for Josip Juranovic in the upcoming January transfer window (Dec 2022):
“You started with an ‘if’ and I’ll give you an ‘if’ back. If it stops snowing I’ll be able to drive home without having to get out of my car.”
Playing Career
| APPEARANCES (subs) |
LEAGUE | SCOTTISH CUP | LEAGUE CUP | EUROPE | TOTAL |
| 2021-22 | 26 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 35 |
| Goals | 3 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 5 |
| 2022-23 | 10 | 0 | 2 | 6 | 18 |
| Goals | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 |
| Total | 36 | 2 | 5 | 10 | 53 |
| Goals | 4 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 6 |
Honours with Celtic
(Honours are marked below in which the player has played in at least one of the matches in the campaign.)
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Josip Juranovic to Celtic confirmed as Ange Postecoglou hails ‘quality’ addition
Matthew Elder
The Scotsman
Celtic have completed the signing of Croatian international defender Josip Juranovic, subject to international clearance.
Luka Modric holding a football ball © New Celtic signing Josip Juranovic in action for Croatia against Scotland during Euro 2020 (Photo by…
The Parkhead side confirmed it has reached agreement with Legia Warsaw over a £2.6m transfer fee for the 26-year-old right-back who will join on a five-year deal once the paperwork is finalised.
Juranovic is due to join up with his new Celtic teammates early this week ahead of the Europa League play-off second leg against AZ Alkmaar.
Celtic manager Ange Postecoglou hailed the arrival of his latest new signing, who will provide competition for current right-back Anthony Ralston.
“We are absolutely delighted to be bringing Josip to the club and we are sure he will be a great addition to the squad,” Postecoglou said.
“As I have said before, everyone at the club has been working hard to add to our squad and we have made good progress. I am really pleased to bring Josip in to support the rest of the boys.
“We have so many challenges ahead of us and Josip will add important quality and depth. I am really looking forward to working with him.”
Juranovic signed off from Legia in style with a stunning long-range strike in a 2-2 draw with Slavia Prague in the Europa League play-off first leg on Thursday.
The full-back, who has been capped 10 times by Croatia, joined Legia from Hajduk Split last year and won the Polish top-flight title in his debut season, scoring once and registering eight assists in 26 appearances.
“Football is about sportsmanship and I gave him a little kiss”
“Football is about sportsmanship and I gave him a little kiss”
By Paul Gillespie 6 December, 2022 No Comments
“Football is about sportsmanship and I gave him a little kiss”, Josip Juranovic on consoling Celtic teammate Daizen Maeda…
Japan’s forward #25 Daizen Maeda (C) is consoled by Croatia’s defender #22 Josip Juranovic after after lost on penalty shoot-out the Qatar 2022 World Cup round of 16 football match between Japan and Croatia at the Al-Janoub Stadium in Al-Wakrah, south of Doha on December 5, 2022. (Photo by ANDREJ ISAKOVIC/AFP via Getty Images)
As Josip Juranovic and his countrymen celebrated in elation and joy after the penalty shootout which saw them beat Japan, the Croatian international thought it only appropriate that he should also console his Celtic teammate and scorer on the night, Daizen Maeda after his side were eliminated from the 2022 World Cup knockout stages.
Daizen was visibly upset and looked quite distraught after trying so hard to help his country qualify to the Quarter-final of a World Cup for the first time in their history. His valiant displays have earned rave reviews from the pundits and fans watching worldwide and he can always say he scored in the Round of 16 at a major international tournament.
But as we all know, penalty shootoutscan be so cruel and Daizen must have felt helpless as he had already been long off off the field of play by that point, having made his considerable contribution to the team yesterday. Josip has been talking to the media about his show of sportsmanship and revealed he couldn’t leave giving his fellow Bhoy a little kiss as a way of commisserstion. “Daizen is my friend and I congratulated him because he scored a goal in the World Cup and that is every player’s dream”, he told Sportsmail afterwards.
“But I also felt sad for him because he was crying. Football is about sportsmanship and I gave him a little kiss. He is a good friend of mine and he had such a good World Cup with Japan. I feel sad for him tonight, but happy for Croatia. We made history tonight and now I have something I can say to my sons in the future that I did something beautiful.”
Juranovic also admitted he was mightily relieved after Dinamo Zagreb man, Dominik Livakovic made three crucial saves to send the Croats into the next round of this year’s winter World Cup in Qatar. Having missed his last penalty at club level for the Hoops in the Santiago Bernabèu a few weeks back, the nerves were beginning to kick in with Juranovic. “I was sixth man in the queue”, said Juranovic. ‘I actually wanted to take one because I take them at Celtic and I wanted to do it in the World Cup.
Josip Juranovic of Celtic FC in action with Thibaut Courtois of Real Madrid during the UEFA Champions League match between Real Madrid and Celtic FC at the Estadio Santiago Bernabeu in Madrid,Photo Apo Caballero
“I missed my last one against Real Madrid, but that’s football. Sometimes you miss, sometimes you score. I scored seven, I missed one, it happens.”
Delighted to be in the hat for the next round, the defender said: “We had been through extra time and penalties in the World Cup last time in Russia. Maybe we will do the same as they did four years ago by reaching the final. Why not? From the first minute, we didn’t have the possession or the chances we wanted. We didn’t score and they did from one chance, but after that we got the game under control. We have a great mix of old and young players in this squad and we did everything we had to do.”
Paul Gillespie
“And that’s the beauty of football,” Celtic’s World Cup Medalist Josip Juranovic
“And that’s the beauty of football,” Celtic’s World Cup Medalist Josip Juranovic
By Editor 30 December, 2022
Josip Juranovic couldn’t wipe that smile off his face as he spoke to Gerry McCulloch from Celtic TV during the week after his return to Lennoxtown sporting a World Cup bronze medal around his neck.
“It’s here, close to my heart – what can I say about this medal? It was a special moment for me and a special moment for this club also, and a special moment for my kids,” the Celtic right-back stated. “I can say to my kids that I did something special, also with the club, but on the world stage I was third, and now I need to keep going like always, working hard and that’s it.”
Looking back on the World Cup experience Juranovic said: “Qatar was really hot, something different from here, but when you are playing against Messi, against Vinicius – so many good players, that experience is really high and now I put my standards really high and I need to prove that to everyone that I need to keep myself there.”
On his contrasting emotions after Croatia defeated Daizen Maeda’s Japan on penalties.
“To be honest I had two different feelings, I was really happy about my victory and going even further, but I was sad to see Daizen Meada, how he was crying and everything, but that’s football. One guy is leaving with a smile the other guy is leaving in tears.
“But, again, everybody from the Celtic players at the World Cup represented Celtic really high and that’s really good to see,” Josip said.
On his man-of-the-match performance against World Cup favourites Brazil in the quarter-finals. “You know, we didn’t have the pressure that we needed to win, they had it.
“We were playing for our country – a small country but one with a huge heart, and I think that we showed to everybody that even small countries can beat the favourites for the World Cup.
“And that’s the beauty of football.”
Juranovic notes that Croatia have a semi-final in the Nations League to look forward to and states that this group want to win something for their country.
On being back at Celtic and looking forward to Monday’s big Glasgow Derby at Ibrox: “That’s good because now we can say that everybody who is here can earn his place in the team and even if somebody is injured or at the World Cup, we are keeping to winning and that’s the most important for this football club.
“In the training session I was seeing that the boys are hungry for more, and that they are waiting for Monday – also me. After tomorrow we will start to analyse their games and everything and we will be 100 per cent prepared for that game.”
Full interview: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=E9kWHrCIFs8&t=8s