Alistair Johnston only had to talk with Ange Postecoglou on a Zoom call before the Celtic boss knew he would be a top fit.
The Canadian is an emerging favourite of Parkhead fans after stellar performances since arriving from CF Montreal in January. Celtic paid around £3.5million for the right-back's services as it appeared top star Josip Juranovic would be calling time on his 18-month journey in Glasgow. The Croatian would leave for Union Berlin and net the Hoops a cool package worth around £10million.
Since then Johnston has endeared himself majorly to Celtic for his infectious mentality and work rate, something Postecoglou identified after speaking with the 24-year-old on Zoom. The Aussie knew he had found a potential gem due to his character and says he has taken on the challenge of replacing Juranovic with unbridled confidence.
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He said: “He loves a battle. I guess he loves these kind of games. When you try and bring in players, particularly to this football club, what I have found is that aside from their abilities as a footballer it takes certain types of characters. From the moment I spoke to him I knew he’d do for me.
“I finished off the Zoom call and said to somebody ‘he’s going to do well here.’ He’s just a winner, he’s very determined to get the best out of his football ability. He’s embraced the culture here and embraced the responsibility he has. You know, in four months he’s had three of these games, three derbies, and I think he’s excelled in all of them."
On the challenge of replacing Juranovic, He added: "Josip [Juranovic] was fantastic for us and contributed greatly.
“But he took on that challenge. Tony Ralston has had an injury so he’s our only one so we had to get that right. But I was really confident in him, both as a player and as a person.
“You know what, I think there is still more to come from him. But a big part of that is that you know that the improvement in his football will be accompanied by the fact he’s just the right kind of character in a group. He’s not the shy, retiring type.
“He enjoys the battle and he’s come into an environment where the other guys are like minded. We have an outstanding leader in Callum. But outside of that they all take the responsibility upon themselves and nobody out there needs too much direction. They are all prepared to take things on the front-foot when it’s their turn. And he certainly does that.”
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