Tan McManus believes Celtic could and should cash in on Josip Juranovic in January after the emergence of Alistair Johnston as a top January target.
Johnston played his final game of the World Cup on Thursday evening and now looked destined to head to the Hoops sooner rather than later.
It leaves Juranovic’s future up in the air for now, but Celtic have clearly got intel to suggest there are teams vying for his signature.
McManus believed Johnston looks like an upgrade on the Croatian, even after Croatia taught Canada a lesson on Matchday two.
Speaking to Football Insider, McManus said, “I thought Juranovic was poor against Canada.
“He was up against Alphonso Davies at times and to be fair, for me, he is one of the best players in the world.
“Defensively he was poor and obviously you have Johnston on the other side who played really, really well, impressive performance. He showed he could be a very good player for Celtic.
“He suits Ange’s style, he was very good going forward and very aggressive in the press. If Celtic were to sign him and get rid of Juranovic, that’s a sensible move.
“I think either way Celtic will be looking to cash in on Juranovic. He is too inconsistent and they need to improve in that area.
“Looking at the World Cup, you would have to say that Johnston is an upgrade.”
Juranovic will remain in Qatar with his country after advancing to the knock out stages. The defender will unlikely be involved in Celtic’s match against Pittodrie no matter what happens now.
If Celtif have Johnston signed up shortly, he can’t play until January so Josip will still get game time for the bhoys even if he’s set to leave soon after.
Ange told Celtic fans he needs to be aggressive in the transfer market and he’s not messed around so far.
CeltsAreHere will be talking to Ange’s frost January signing a month before he can even be properly registered. The site will be in attendance for a Yuki Kobayashi presser conference on Friday afternoon.
Tam McClownshoe.