Union Berlin managing director Oliver Ruhnert admits he didn't think Josip Juranovic would sign for the club when they tried their luck last month.
But he's delighted they stuck with it to win the race for the Croatian. Juranovic was linked with clubs all over Europe with Chelsea and Barcelona among those in the running at one stage and Monza and Torino were believed to have made moves later in the window to take him to Serie A. But it was Bundesliga high-flyers Union who got there in the end, sealing a deal which could be worth £10m to Celtic.
He started well in Germany but captain Christopher Trimmel's return from injury has left him on the bench for their last two games. But managing director Ruhnert admits the coup signing from Ange Postecoglou's team shows just how far they have come in recent years, and admits he was surprised they were able to pull of deals for the Croatian as well as midfielder Aissa Laidouni, who was previously linked with Celtic.
He said: “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.
“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.
“Both are very positive guys in the dressing room. That is extremely gratifying. That’s exactly what we wanted.”
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