Carl Starfelt is still holding out hope that Celtic’s star World Cup performer Josip Juranovic will remain at the club past the January transfer window.
The Croatian full-back helped his country land a historic medal as they defeated Morocco in the third-place shootout showdown in Qatar.
Juranovic caught the eye after some impressive performances against the likes of Brazil, Belgium and Japan and as a result, transfer speculation has been mounting.
Barcelona was the latest side to be linked with the 27-year-old as they joined the long list of reported suitors, including the likes of Manchester United, Atletico Madrid and Chelsea.
It remains to be seen whether Juranovic will move on from Celtic this January, but his defensive teammate Starfelt is not surprised there is interest given his calibre of performances on the greatest football stage of all.
He said: “I watched a lot of the matches with the Celtic players. It is a bit more fun to watch when Celtic players are playing.
“I was impressed with all of them. Everyone went through the group stages which is pretty amazing. I was very happy for them.
“I wouldn’t say I expected Josip to do well. But we know that he is a really good player. He has played 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 was pleased to see that his performances were top-class.
“I have not read too much about transfer interest to be honest, but he is a really good player. I have no idea about these kinds of rumours.
“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 reality and not to react to talk or rumours.”
Celtic are braced for bids for Juranovic and have already moved to bring in a replacement with Canadian international Alistair Johnston joining Ange Postecoglou's ranks from Montreal in the MLS.
A report yesterday from Sky Sports suggested two unnamed Premier League clubs were also monitoring the flying full-back alongside Spanish giants Barcelona and Atletico Madrid.
Starfelt believes the transfer talk and performances of the Croatian and his other Celtic teammates represented at the World Cup can only be positive for the profile of the club and Scottish football as a whole.
He added: “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.”
