ANGE POSTECOGLOU has admitted that Canada defender Alistair Johnston is ‘definitely on his radar’ after Celtic were reported to have agreed a £3m fee with CF Montreal to sign the right-back in January.
Johnston was one of the stars for the Maple Leafs during their short World Cup campaign, with the 24-year-old impressing despite the Canadians exiting the tournament at the group stage.
Those performances led to him being strongly linked with a move to Celtic, and Postecoglou has conceded that he is a player he would like to add to his squad.
“We’re looking at a number of players,” Postecoglou said. “We are looking to get stronger and he’s definitely one of the players on our radar.
“Hopefully there will be some developments in the near future and he can add something to our football club.”
The move for Johnston may have been sparked by the potential exit of Josip Juranovic, who has been attracting interest following his own impressive displays for club and country.
Postecoglou though says he isn’t too concerned about the prospect of losing any of his star men, with striker Giorgos Giakoumakis also reportedly agitating for a move following a dispute over his salary.
“I don’t think too much about it unless something is presented to me,” he said. “I focus more on what I see every day in training. “If players are unhappy, have concerns or are looking for other things then it’ll come to my attention pretty quickly and we’ll deal with it as we go along.
“Every transfer window is an opportunity for us to get stronger and better, and that’s what we will be looking to do.
“It doesn’t always mean we will bring players in, it will be about not losing players that would weaken us. Sometimes we’ll be developing and won’t need to bring anyone in.
“But the windows are always an opportunity to improve and that’s how we’ll treat this one.
“It’s not about me imposing conditions that players have to be happy. Players have different priorities at different times.
“I have understood that my whole managerial career. In 25 years of doing this job, I’ve never taken anything personally or felt players should think a certain way.
“Some players want more game time, some think it might be time for them to improve their financial situation or maybe it’s just they don’t like the way I manage. It could be a number of things, but it’s constantly evolving.
“My role is to look at what I see every day and deal with the issues that come up. I don’t go around telling the players they need to feel a certain way or behave a certain way.
“It’s down to them. We know what this football club has to offer in terms of the size of the club, the passionate fanbase, the pressure for success and European football.
“We are pretty clear about it. But sometimes players’ priorities can change and if that happens I’ll deal with it.”
