Will Celtic enjoy a strong end to yet another memorable season?
On Saturday, the Hoops fought back from a goal down to win 3-1 at Parkhead; Nicolas Kühn, Adam Idah and then Reo Hatate the scorers for Celtic.
As a result, Brendan Rodgers’ side could conclude the campaign with as many as 94 points, travelling to Pittodrie on Wednesday, before facing St Mirren on trophy presentation day, which has become a near-annual event, on Saturday.
They’ll then face Aberdeen again the following weekend at Hampden in the Scottish Cup Final, seeking to secure a sixth domestic treble in just nine seasons.
Despite their continued domination of Scottish football, Rodgers is not satisfied and always demands improvement, so could Celtic sign a highly-rated defender in a deal that would be reminiscent of Josip Juranović’s move from the not-too-distant past?
Josip Juranović's impact at Celtic
As part of the major summer rebuild when Ange Postecoglou first arrived at Celtic in the summer of 2021, 14 senior players were signed, including Juranović, joining from Legia Warszawa for a reported fee of £2.5m.
Well, despite actually only making 53 appearances in hoops, the Croatian international certainly proved to be fantastic value for money, describing his 18 months in Glasgow as “the best of his life”.
Juranović quickly established himself as a fans’ favourite, with Total Football Analysis praising his ‘versatility… aerial ability and physicality’ as well as his leadership qualities.
Thus, in January 2023, shortly after helping Croatia reach the World Cup semi-finals in Qatar, Juranović joined Union Berlin for a reported £10m, representing a 400% return on investment in just a year-and-a-half.
It’s safe to say that Celtic’s recruitment when it comes to plucking hidden gems has worked well and they could repeat that trick here, luring another defender from the continent to Scottish shores.
Celtic targeting a new defender
As previously reported by Mirko Marković of Maxbet Sport earlier this month, Celtic are ‘very interested’ in signing defender Veljko Milosavljević from Serbian champions Crvena zvezda, adding that the youngster has shown great ‘potential’ this season.
Milosavljević, who is just 17-years-old, made his senior Super liga Srbije debut for Red Star Belgrade against Radnički Niš as recently as December, with the table below outlining his career statistics so far.
Appearances
17
Minutes
1,189
Starts
12
Super liga Srbije apps
13
Super liga Srbije starts
10
Despite his lack of first-team experience, Milosavljević has earned rave reviews.
Aleksandar Radonić of Serbia outlet Kurur labels him ‘one of the most talented’ youngsters to come through Red Star Belgrade’s academy in recent times, adding that the centre-back, who stands at 6 foot 3, was ‘especially impressive’ during a recent eternal derby victory over Partizan, claiming he is now valued at around €4m (£3m).
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Meantime, scout Gianni Bellasi describes him as a “physically imposing” defender who is a “reliable presence”, while Blair Meikle of the National believes the teenager is one of the ‘hottest young prospects’ in European football right now.
So, where would he fit into Celtic’s team?
Well, for four seasons now, Cameron Carter-Vickers has been the club’s undisputed first-choice central defender, racking up 157 appearances since arriving from Tottenham, despite a few injury problems.
This season, fellow-American international Auston Trusty as well as Liam Scales have been vying to be Carter-Vickers’ partner, but that position is certainly up for grabs, and Milosavljević more than appears to have all the attributes and qualities to come in and make that position his own.
Given that, as noted by teammate Kasper Schmeichel, Carter-Vickers’ qualities lie “with the ball at his feet”, Milosavljević’s physical profile suggests he would be a dream centre-back partner.
Thus, if Celtic can secure his services for as little as £4m, that would appear to be a fantastic investment.
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