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Josip Juranovic is a player who has drawn a somewhat mixed reaction from Celtic fans this season.

The Croatian was one of the star men for Ange Postecoglou's side last term as they won a League Cup and Scottish Premiership double.

The defender scored six goals and provided three assists in 41 games for the Hoops during the Australian's first full campaign in charge. He was also a key contributor to the best defence in the league and was vital in bringing both experience and quality to a position that was severely lacking the year before.

There is, of course, no doubting the rise of Anthony Ralston during this period of time. However, Juranovic was clearly an important component of what the manager wanted his team to achieve in his first 12 months.

He played left-back at the start of his Hoops career to provide cover for an injured Greg Taylor and performed admirably in the role. Also, despite how well Ralston played at times last season, when push came to shove in games such as the League Cup final against Hibernian, it was the former Legia Warsaw man who was given the starting jersey.

Fast forward to the recent summer transfer window and, as happens at that time of year, the Croatia international was linked to several clubs. The most high-profile was Atletico Madrid, a club which has reportedly kept an eye on him in the months since right up until the eve of his World Cup quarter-final against Brazil on Friday December 9.

Despite the transfer talk Juranovic stayed put and has featured regularly since, including playing every minute of the Champions League group stage campaign.

Yet over the course of recent months it would not be unfair to suggest that his performances have tailed off compared to last season.

In Europe, he notably struggled against RB Leipzig in Germany and Real Madrid in the Santiago Bernabeu. The right-back was caught on his heels for the German side's opening goal and then he missed a crucial penalty to get his team back into proceedings in Spain.

Now, the easy retort to this is that some of the best players in the world would have found things hard at those venues. However, even domestically, Juranovic has struggled to impose himself at times with particular moments of weakness sticking out.

Take, for instance, the bizarre own-goal mix-up in Celtic's win over Motherwell near the beginning of the campaign or in the most recent league fixture against the Steelmen, where he played a Fir Park player onside late on to cost the defence a clean sheet.

These are not things that the Croatian was regularly guilty of last season. And yet, as an example, if you take the first game in context Wyscout data suggests his overall performance in this match was still statistically a good one.

Celtic Way:

He won two out of his four aerial duels and 58 per cent of his total duels. Given that on average he wins 51.4 per cent and 37.9 per cent of his total and aerial duels respectively in Scottish football, he performed above average from a defensive point of view despite his goal-costing individual error.

Even with these stats it is understandable that, with some moments of weakness sticking in the mind as well as the recent acquisition of Canadian right-back Alistair Johnston and links with a move away, it might seem natural that the club should be looking to let Juranovic go, right? 

Wrong. The opposite is true. Celtic should be doing their best to keep him in situ.

He looks reinvigorated at the World Cup. During his four games in Qatar so far, Wyscout measures that he has recorded 27 interceptions across the tournament, with the highest coming (11) in the toughest game against Belgium. 

His average pass accuracy (81 per cent) on the highest stage is virtually comparable with what he produces in Scotland. He makes essentially the same amount of recoveries for Croatia as he does Celtic too.

It also goes without saying that he is viewed as a valuable asset by the national team manager Zlatko Dalic, given he has played every minute of the competition so far ahead of Bayern Munich full-back Josip Stanisic and has helped them keep two clean sheets out of a possible four.

His individual contribution in the round of 16 tie against Japan - arguably the most pressurised game of the four - highlighted just how effective he can be at the highest level. 

He won 78 per cent of his total duels and his only aerial duel of the game. As well as this, he completed 100 per cent of his total dribbles and finished with a passing accuracy of 85 per cent.

With the eyes of the world on him, it was a more than impressive performance.

If Celtic welcome this version of Juranovic into the fold post-Qatar, it will be to their benefit in the quest for a domestic treble.

And remember: while this would mean three right-backs requiring game-time, the Hoops undoubtedly benefitted from Matt O'Riley joining while Tom Rogic was still at the club rather than after he had left.

While the Dane became a starter almost instantly, there was the fallback of the squad having a player of the Australian's quality to give him the time to settle in.

Juranovic could fulfil that same role - albeit while likely commanding more starter's minutes - and help Johnston bed in at Parkhead before moving on in the summer when suitors will still be attracted to him.

Don't count out the benefit of keeping Juranovic around just yet.

This piece is an extract from today’s Celtic Digest newsletter, which is emailed out every weekday evening with a round-up of the day's top stories and exclusive analysis from The Celtic Way team. 

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