According to the Express, Chelsea have held internal discussions to sign an emergency cover for the injured Reece James as Graham Potter and Chelsea step into the second half of the campaign. The name of Josip Juranovic has been discussed to provide cover.
CFC will be without their stalwart James for a month after the right back suffered a recurrence of his knee injury against Bournemouth and the prospects of signing a new right back are being discussed in the Chelsea offices.
Celtic right back Juranovic who had a fantastic world cup is certainly a player that is on the shortlist and given Chelsea’s financial muscle with their new owner Todd Boehly, a splash of cash to sign the Croatian cannot be ruled out. People outside of Croatian and Scottish football know very little about Juranovic. Here are some things to know about Chelsea’s transfer target Juranovic.
Josip Juranovic’s background
After rising through the ranks at Croatian third tier side Dubrava and having a brief stint at NK Croatia Sesvete academy, Juranovic was plucked by one of Croatia’s biggest clubs, Hajduk Split. After signing his first contract with Split, he spent some time with the B team before being promoted to the first team in 2015 by Goran Vucevic.
After spending five years in his home country, Juranovic swapped Prva HNL for Polish Ekstraklasa, signing a three year deal with Legia Warsaw in the summer of 2020. Juranovic played 26 Polish league games, scoring once and registering eight assists, playing largely as a right back but also deputizing as a centre back and a wing back when needed. Legia Warsaw won the Ekstraklasa and the Croat’s high flying performances didn’t go unnoticed as Celtic came in with a £2.5 million cheque.
Juranovic signed for Celtic in the summer of 2021 and started his first game as a left back, despite playing as a right back for majority of his career. He showcased fine versatility, playing 16 games as a right back and 13 games as a left back for Celtic last season and helping the Scottish giants win the Scottish Premiership title.
His solid performances at the world cup have now further cemented him as one of the most reliable players for Croatia and for Celtic and clubs like Chelsea have started to take notice.