Jozo Simunovic’s future at Celtic is very much up in the air at the moment. The defender made a costly blunder in the Europa League against Copenhagen and hasn’t really been seen since.
His contract expires at the end of the season but Neil Lennon has previously claimed he’d like to extend that option. Yet, he hasn’t spoken about the 25-year-old since that error during the 3-1 defeat to the Danes in Europe.
With a plethora of centre-backs at Lennon’s disposal, it could be that he walks out of the door on a free transfer once the window opens. That being said, the fact Kristoffer Ajer could leave has given Simunovic a lifeline in Glasgow.
Last summer, the centre-back attracted interest from Lille. £5m was the potential fee but he stayed at Celtic Park and decided to fight for his place.
That would have seen the Bhoys lose £500,000 on the initial investment of £5.5m they made on the Croatian all the way back in 2015.
He was put on a contract of £8k-per-week, before extending his terms in 2017. Simunovic is now on £10k-per-week but he is hardly warranting of that wage and he hasn’t done too much to justify the money Celtic have invested on the 6 foot 3 centre-half.
Now of Bosnian nationality, he arrived just hours after Virgil van Dijk departed for Southampton. He’s gone on to become one of the most expensive defenders in world football but Simunovic is at the opposite end of the spectrum.
Van Dijk rarely makes mistakes, rarely does he miss a match either. However, the man who replaced his role in the side has been out injured – missing 567 days – left fighting for his place and has also made mistakes, take Copenhagen as the prime example.
Celtic were well in the hunt to reach the last 16 but they exited the tournament instead. The prize money for ending up in that quarter of the competition was all of a sudden wiped away. That hasn’t been the most costly blow, however.
It’s the fee and wages they’ve put aside for Simunovic that will surely paint an unhappy picture for Peter Lawwell and the club’s hierarchy.
Having been at the club for just over 237 weeks, £7.65m has been ploughed into the former Dinamo Zagreb man – that’s an accumulative spend of the player’s transfer fee and wages.
After playing just 126 times in five years, they’ve hardly got their money’s worth, especially for a player who costs the club £520,000 a year.
The greatest rivalry in world football: Test your Old Firm derby knowledge below…
The average for a player per year at Celtic is just north of £895,000 so he isn’t the highest earner but he’s still taking up wages that could be freed for someone more consistent.
Meanwhile, Celtic’s failure to sign a player compared to Alexis Sanchez should be seen as BLESSING in disguise…
