Scottish champions Celtic could seemingly make a tidy profit with the sale of defender Josip Juranovic, amid reported interest from the Premier League.
What's the word?
Speculation is currently rife regarding the future of the Croatian international, with transfer guru Fabrizio Romano having revealed on Monday that the Parkhead giants are "open" to potential offers for the 27-year-old, having already signed a replacement in the form of Alistair Johnston.
The former Legia Warsaw full-back is seemingly up for grabs in January following a recent stall in contract negotiations, with West Ham United one of the clubs to have been named as a possible suitor in the New Year.
Reports over the summer suggested that Manchester United - as well as the likes of Chelsea and Atletico Madrid - were also interested in the 25-cap gem's signature, with it seemingly not out of the question that the Red Devils could make a concrete approach next month.
That's according to transfer insider Dean Jones - speaking to GIVEMESPORT - who revealed that should Erik ten Hag's side show a strong interest, it could well lead to a rise in valuation for the Old Firm giants.
The respected source stated:
"Manchester United have had a close eye on him for sure. To be honest, his valuation is going to depend on which level of club comes in for him because if it’s Man United, you hike it up. But if it’s a West Ham, then you’re not going to be getting as much.”
Ange could strike gold
Should the Old Trafford outfit firm up their interest, it could well see Ange Postecoglou and co strike gold, with the Scottish Premiership side having only forked out a relative bargain fee of around £2.5m to bring the player to Glasgow last year.
The suggestion over the summer was that the right-back was valued at around £15m, although the asking price could well rise amid the Zagreb-born gem's impact for his country at the World Cup in Qatar, having started every game in his nation's surge to the quarter-final stage.
To be able to recoup a sizeable profit on their initial investment would no doubt prove real astute business as far as the Bhoys are concerned, particularly with Juranovic having arguably not hit the same heights so far this season.
The £16k-per-week man has been branded as "too inconsistent" by pundit Tam McManus after scoring just once and laying on only one assist in all competitions this season, while also averaging just 1.1 tackles per game in the top flight.
Teammate Anthony Ralston, for instance, has registered three goal involvements in the current campaign thus far, while the Scotsman also potentially offers more in a defensive sense as he has averaged 1.5 tackles per game from the same number of league outings.
As such, it would arguably not be too great a blow were Juranovic to move on in the near future, particularly if Celtic can recoup a hefty transfer fee in order to reinvest in other areas of the squad.