Carl Starfelt admits he is NOT surprised that Josip Juranovic has been linked with a big-money move away from Celtic in January.
Interest is high in the man Ange Postecoglou snapped up from Legia Warsaw 18 months ago, with the Hoops set to make big profit on the full-back who cost them £2.5million. The Scottish Sun report that football giants Barcelona are ready over an approach while Atletico Madrid are interested as are clubs in England.
The Swedish defender is delighted his team-mate is getting the recognition he deserves for his form for both club and country, with the full-back playing a major role in Croatia's run to the semi final before defeat to Argentina. They did leave Qatar with bronze medals after a third-placed play-off triumph over Morocco. Starfelt wants Juranovic to remain at Celtic but knows how football works. He knows just how good a footballer he really is with pundits raving over his Brazil quarter-final display as they shocked the then tournament favourites on penalties.
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He 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.
“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.”
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