Carl Starfelt is thrilled Celtic pal Josip Juranovic has been linked with big guns barcelona after his barnstorming displays in Qatar.
The Hoops ace is hot property after helping fire Croatia to third place at the World Cup with clubs in England, Spain and Italy preparing to spark a bidding war in the January window. La Liga giants Barca are also understood to be considering a swoop for the versatile full back – with Celts hoping to cash in with a bumper deal just 18 months after signing him.
Starfelt would love Juranovic to stick around but he knows there could be a move too big to turn down.But he’s not surprised to hear the list of admirers growing by the day as he rates his Parkhead teammate as top class.Starfelt said: “Of course you want your best players to stay, but we know how football works. Players sometimes come and go.
“It’s about doing the best with the squad you have. As a player you learn to live by the reality and not to react to talk or rumours.
“I have not read too much about this to be honest, but he is a really good player. I have no idea about these kinds of rumours to be fair but, yeah, it is really good to see. It was Josip but it was also the other guys.
“You could see that they could all do a lot in the highest of competitions. It was really good to see, for Celtic and good recognition for Scottish football.”
Juranovic was one of the stars of Qatar as the Croats stunned Brazil on their way to the last four, before Argentina ended their glory run. Starfalt said: “It’s not that I expect him to do well. But we know that he is a really good player.
“He has done well with us and with the Croatian national team for a long time now. You shouldn’t take a medal at the World Cup for granted. It is a huge thing so I am really happy for him and pleased to see that his performances were top-class.”
Juranovic is due to report back at Celtic next week with new recruits Alistair Johnston and Yuke Kobayashi available to play from January 1. Kobayashi is another centre back to fight it out with Starfelt, Cameron Carter-Vickers, Moritz Jenz and Stephen Welsh.
Starfelt said: “You welcome it. At a club like Celtic you should have competition. We always push to get better and it’s good to bring in new players as it pushes everyone to improve.
“It makes you work even harder in training because you can never relax . The right mentality is to look at these things positively.”
Starfelt has been impressed with Johnston so far ahead the Canadian trained with the first team squad this week. He said: “He’s done well from what I have seen in training. He looks a good player and he’s also a really good guy as well, which is important.
“He’s very sociable and he brings a good energy to the squad.”
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