Union Berlin managing director Oliver Ruhnert told BILD that the Bundesliga club did not anticipate their pursuit of Josip Juranovic to ‘work out’ before agreeing to an initial £7.5 million with Celtic

Union Berlin managing director Oliver Ruhnert told BILD that the Bundesliga club did not anticipate their pursuit of Josip Juranovic to ‘work out’ before agreeing to an initial £7.5 million with Celtic.

Surprising Union Berlin was already the Bundesliga’s best team from set pieces before the cunning Croat joined in the January transfer window. Now add Juranovic’s lethal delivery to the aerial skills of Danilho Doekhi and company, and you have a lethal mix.

In both of his games with the Union thus far, Juranovic has recorded an assist, keeping alive the possibility of a Hollywood conclusion to Urs Fischer’s fantasy. Union, a team that was promoted to the Bundesliga for the first time in 2019 and is now in second place, just one point behind a flawed Bayern Munich team, is writing their own Leicester City-style tale in Germany.

If they fail in their extraordinary run at the crown, at least they may console themselves with a spot in the Champions League.

And Ruhnert acknowledges that players like Juranovic and former Ferencvaros star Aissa Laidouni – another winter signing – would have stayed out of reach if Union Berlin had not experienced such an unbelievable ascent over the previous few seasons.

“We came at the right moment with players like Juranovic and Ladouni. A few years ago, players would probably have said ‘no’. But you see that work has been done successfully here in recent years. That makes it easier for you (to say ‘yes’),” Ruhnert explains. 

“At first, we had the expectation that (the Juranovic deal) would probably not work out. We stuck with it and were rewarded in the end. We had (Laidouni) on our radar for a long time. It was never realistic (before) but, like with Juranovic, we came at the right moment. Both are very positive guys in the dressing room. That is extremely gratifying. That’s exactly what we wanted,” he added.

Union reportedly paid £7.5 million (with an option to pay £10 million) for Juranovic, as reported by Sky Sports. However, Canada international Alistair Johnston has well filled in for Juranovic, and Celtic have hardly noticed his absence.