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BOSS IS SWEET ON JOHNSTON DEAL

CALUM CROWE

CELTIC boss Ange Postecoglou has confirmed the club’s interest in Canada defender Alistair Johnston — and hopes to tie up a deal as soon as possible. Johnston has been with his country at the World Cup over the past fortnight and started all three games against Belgium, Croatia and Morocco. But, with Canada exiting after the group stage, the 24-year-old Montreal star is now free to focus on club matters and a £3.5million move to Parkhead could well accelerate. Speaking yesterday, Postecoglou said: ‘We’re looking at a number of players. We are looking to get stronger and he (Johnston) is definitely one of the players on our radar. Hopefully there will be some developments in the near future and he can add something to our football club.’ Capable of playing at right-back or centre-back,

Johnston would be a likely replacement for Josip Juranovic, with a host of clubs from around Europe interested in the Croatian right-back. Juranovic has failed to agree terms on a new contract and reports have emerged over recent days that striker Giorgos Giakoumakis could be in the same boat. Postecoglou was relaxed when asked about the prospect of players moving on in January, saying: ‘I don’t think too much about it unless something is presented to me. ‘If players are unhappy, have concerns or are looking for other things then it’ll come to my attention pretty quickly and we’ll deal with it as we go along. Every transfer window is an opportunity for us to get stronger and better, and that’s what we will be looking to do.’

Football

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2022-12-03T08:00:00.0000000Z

2022-12-03T08:00:00.0000000Z

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