Chelsea have been told that there's nothing to their interest in Celtic full-back Josip Juranovic after he emerged as a potential back-up for Reece James. After coming off injured against Bournemouth James will now miss up to a month out with another knock.
He had already spent eight weeks recovering from a previous knee injury having been out for large spells of last season too. Due to his importance in balancing Graham Potter's side at both ends Chelsea are desperately looking for options to supplement him in the squad.
With January approaching there is a chance to make this happen, but any thoughts that Celtic were willing to let their World Cup star Juranovic leave easily have been quickly downplayed. The Croatian has only just returned from Qatar after helping his side to a third-place finish but is now well and truly in the midst of the transfer rumour mill.
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Juranovic's name was linked with a move to Stamford Bridge but when manager Ange Postecoglou was quizzed on the matter he remained firm, saying: "I can say I’ve heard nothing. Nothing’s happened. As I said a week or so ago, the speculation is what it is."
The 27-year-old did his reputation a great deal of good over the winter, standing out for his side in the quarter-final win over Brazil. He had been a relatively unknown name before moving to Scotland in 2021 from Legia Warsaw but has since attracted a host of clubs across Europe all keen to snatch up his quality.
With a goal and an assist in the league already this season Juranovic is a versatile option at the back and could deputise across a handful of positions. Postecoglou isn't in the mood for helping out other teams though, adding: "What I know is we are in a really good space as a club. Going into January we have already strengthened and hopefully we’ll strengthen further.
"I’m in no doubt that by the end of January we’ll have a stronger squad than we did going into it." Given James' injury record and his unsolvable void left when not available there has been a shift in the tide for Todd Boehly heading into the winter with finding a new right-sided player now arguably top of the priority list.
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