IF good things come to those who wait, Celtic fans are in for quite a summer.
The Hoops faithful have been left hanging by their club as they await confirmation of the signings of Jota and Alexandro Bernabei, with the seemingly interminable delay provoking outbreaks of anxiety, particularly over the Portuguese winger who was such a success on loan at the club from Benfica last season.
Social media has proved both a blessing and a curse for fans during these past few weeks, allowing them to track Jota’s summer sojourns around the globe, and seeing his nickname evolve from George Michael to Judith Chalmers.
It also alerted the fans to the fact that instead of travelling to Glasgow to join pre-season training as had been widely expected, he was instead at a music festival in Lisbon over the weekend.
In the meantime, there was at least pictorial evidence that Bernabei was in the country, with the Argentinian left-back snapped in the rather less glamorous surroundings of Glasgow Airport upon his arrival from Buenos Aires. That was at the tail end of last week though, and yet, still no confirmation of his signing is forthcoming.
Perhaps sensing the growing unease, manager Ange Postecoglou used part of his first address to the fans of pre-season to calm any undue worries over the club’s transfer business.
“For me, the most important thing is to get the right players in,” Postecoglou explained.
“That’s the key for me and it’s not just about them as players, it’s about them as people. For that to happen we can’t put time-lines on things.
“Obviously, the earlier we can get players in the better. We have a unique scenario this year in that we have got a clear pre-season without any competitive games which is a great advantage for us.
“So for me, apart from strengthening the squad, just being able to work with the group of players we had last year in pre-season is going to be invaluable as well.”
Those pre-season preparations will be stepped up next week when the international players return from their extra week’s respite, and Celtic fans will be desperate for Jota and Bernabei to join them as the squad travels to Austria.
Every indication is that at the very least, Bernabei will. The Argentinian has agreed a contract and passed his medical this week, with Celtic and Lanus understood to have agreed to a 10 percent sell-on clause as part of the £3.75m deal.
Herald Sport also understands that Jota will indeed follow him in signing a long-term deal with Celtic, as the club have long been confident about, even if their pre-season base in Wiener Neustadt-Land doesn’t turn out to be the next immediate stop in his whistle-stop world tour.
When the signings are concluded as expected, Celtic’s spending for the transfer window will creep over the £20m mark, a significant outlay so early in the summer that has perhaps been underestimated given that Jota and Cameron Carter-Vickers were a part of the squad last season, albeit still contracted to their parent clubs.
So, while Celtic fans are understandably getting a little antsy over the lack of updates from the club in regards to the deals for Bernabei and Jota, all signs point to their patience being rewarded.
Meanwhile, there has been news this past week to give those same fans cause for concern when it comes to a potential outgoing from their title-winning squad, with several clubs from Europe’s top five leagues credited with an interest in Josip Juranovic.
The right-back was even cited in a tweet by journalist and renowned ‘transfer guru’ Fabrizio Romano, who claimed that it was ‘expected’ he would leave Celtic this summer.
The feeling within the club is somewhat different, though reports soon emerged that Celtic – given they are in a position of strength in relation to the length of the player’s contract and stand to make a healthy profit on their £2.5m investment in Juranovic if he should leave this summer – had placed a £15m value on his head.
Reports from Croatia this week though have contradicted that story, with his agent Hussein Algaaod quoted by news outlet Index as saying: “The price for Juranovic is not fixed at 15 million pounds.
“The club doesn’t really want to sell him unless a really big offer comes along.
“So far, several clubs from five leagues have shown interest in bringing him, but there is no concrete agreement.”
Christopher Jullien though looks likelier to be heading for a Celtic Park exit as the Scottish Sun reports that Bundesliga outfit Schalke are among those looking to sign the defender, with Rennes and Lorient also hoping to lure him back to France.
