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.
Josip Juranovic’s style of play
Juranvoic started his career as an attacking midfielder and while the transformation to a robust right back has completed a long time back, traces of his attacking demeanor can still be seen in his play.
Looking at raw data, one goal and one assist in eight Scottish league games aren’t exactly eye catching numbers but for a full back to possess a repertoire of crossing and passing skills along with the ability to carry the ball forward is mighty impressive.
Juranovic is someone who likes to hug the touchline and parade up and down the flank. The 27 year old has neat distribution skills and he relies on them heavily, allowing him to get involved in attack and become a viable option when his team is attacking from the right. The Croat averages 5 progressive carries per game, which puts him in the top 4% of full backs in Europe in that metric.
Defensively, there’s work to do for Juranovic. Going forward, he uses his pace effectively to steam down the right flank but when it comes to defence, his numbers are average. At just 5 feet 6 inches, Juranovic doesn’t command a lot of aerial presence, which justifies his poor numbers in aerial duels. The 27 year old is good at winning duels on ground and defending deep when needed.
What can Josip Juranovic offer to Chelsea?
By this point, James will be well aware of Murphy’s Law. Whatever can go wrong is going wrong for the fellow Englishman. James suffered a knee injury in October that ruled him out not only for months but killed off any chances of making it to Gareth Southgate’s England squad for the Qatar World Cup 2022.
Missing a world cup can be devastating for a young and hungry player like James, yet he backed himself up and worked hard on his return. After last playing in mid-October, James finally touched the on-field grass against Bournemouth as Chelsea resumed their Premier League campaign after the world cup break.
If missing the world cup wasn’t painful enough, James’ return lasted only 53 minutes as he suffered a knee injury, perhaps a recurrence of the same injury that ruled him out for close to three months. In those 53 minutes, the 23 year old looked sharp and combined extremely well with Raheem Sterling.
The full back is now out for around a month, leaving Chelsea with scarce options at right back and forcing the bosses at Stamford Bridge to make a decision in the January transfer window.
Juranovic can slot in directly in James’ role. Now, James is one of the best full backs in the world right now so Juranovic will have big shoes to fill. What works in Croat’s favour is the pace he possesses and the tidy distribution skills he has. He offers much more while going forward as opposed to Cesar Azpilicueta.
His versatility comes in handy as Juranovic can deputize as a left back as well as play in a wing back role or on the right side of the back three. Juranovic is valued at £8 million but still has three and a half years left on his current contract. Celtic won’t make negotiations easy as they will be reluctant to sell him, nonetheless, the 27 year old will not cause a big hole in the deep pockets of Todd Boehly.