Union Berlin director Oliver Ruhnert had admitted that he was left shocked after his side managed to pull off the transfer of Celtic defender Josip Juranovic.
Having had a strong World Cup campaign, many knew that the 27-year-olds stock was on the rise.
It had been reported that he had turned down the chance to renew his contract at Celtic and was keen to explore other options.
As Croatia reached the semi final of the tournament, many expected the former Legia Warsaw defender to go to a club with a bit higher profile than Union Berlin.
The Bundesliga side are still well in the running for the title in Germany but many expected him to possibly head to La Liga or the English Premiership as he was linked to both leagues.
Transfer guru Fabrizio Romano did reveal that Manchester United appeared to be in full control of the situation until they decided to stick with Aaron Wan-Bissaka which opened the door for Union.
He eventually departed Parkhead for a sum reported to be around £10 million which was again well below what many Celtic supporters would have valued him at. Since then he has had a positive start to life in the German capital having contributed a couple of assists in his first few games.
“We came at the right moment with players like Juranovic and Ladouni. A few years ago, players would probably have said ‘no’. But you see that work has been done successfully here in recent years. That makes it easier for them,” said Ruhnert as quoted by the daily record.
“At first, we had the expectation that (the Juranovic deal) would probably not work out. We stuck with it, and were rewarded in the end. We had (Laidouni) on our radar for a long time. It was never realistic (before) but, like with Juranovic, we came at the right moment.
Soccer Football – Scottish Premiership – Rangers vs Celtic – Ibrox, Glasgow, Scotland, Britain – January 2, 2023 Rangers’ Malik Tillman in action with Celtic’s Josip Juranovic REUTERS/Russell Cheyne
“Both are very positive guys in the dressing room. That is extremely gratifying. That’s exactly what we wanted.”
Many Hoops fans will be glad to the transfer saga with Juranovic is now over even though his counterpart Giorgos Giakoumakis is still yet to leave the Hoops.
There’s no doubt that the level of football in Bundesliga is far superior to Scottish football but many thought he would have gone to a higher profile side which possibly speaks a lot for what Union Berlin have been doing in recent years.
