Barcelona join race to sign Celtic’s Josip Juranovic?

Barcelona are reportedly ready to lock horns with Chelsea for the signature of Celtic right-back Josip Juranovic.

The 27-year-old defender has scored one goal and registered one assist in 15 appearances for the Hoops during the 2022-23 season, although the right-back has only started eight of their Scottish Premiership matches.

Juranovic played every minute of Celtic’s Champions League group-stage campaign, though, and the Croatian is tied down to Ange Postecoglou’s side until 2026.

The Croatia international’s performances during the World Cup in Qatar have not gone unnoticed by Chelsea, but according to Tuttomercatoweb, Barcelona have also been alerted to his performances.

Barca head coach Xavi is expected to prioritize the signing of a new full-back during the mid-season transfer window, but Atletico Madrid are also credited with an interest.

Juranovic has scored a total of six goals and registered three assists from 50 appearances in a Celtic shirt over the past one-and-a-half seasons, but the Scottish giants are under no pressure to sell given his contract situation.

Juranovic’s compatriot Josko Gvardiol is rumoured to be on the Blaugrana’s radar too, but the Catalan giants may not be able to financially compete with the Premier League heavyweights for the RB Leipzig centre-back.