Confirmed: Juranovic joins Union on record deal
Croatian World Cup star Josip Juranovic has officially joined Germany's Köpenick capital city side.
Union Berlin's reported upon record transfer is through. Twenty-seven-year-old Croatian international Josip Juranovic moves to Köpenick on a transfer from Celtic Glasgow. Union did not release any details on the transfer fee, but Sky Sports Scotland reports on a base transfer fee of some €8.5 million. This figure could even rise as, per Sky, there are roughly €2.85 million in performance-based incentives built into the deal.
Juranovic's signing thus constitutes a record deal for Union, more-or-less on par with the millions they spent on permanently acquiring striker Taiwo Awoniyi from Liverpool in the summer of 2021. Juranovic is also not merely a replacement for the departed Julian Ryerson, but actually an upgrade of sorts. Juranovic comes off a successful World Cup during which he went the full distance in all of Croatia's six games and notched an assist.
"Moving to Union fulfills a dream for me to play in one of the best football leagues in the world," Juranovic noted in a club statement, "The Bundesliga is intense, robust, and fits with my game. I'm looking forward to playing in front of the fans at the Alte Försterei soon."
FCU managing director Oliver Ruhnert called the new acquisition "a perfect fit for us with his pace, experience, and skills". No information on the duration of Juranovic's new contract with die Eisernen is available just yet.
Das geht doch gleich gut los ❤️🤍 pic.twitter.com/NMEWWi6TDX
— 1. FC Union Berlin (@fcunion) January 22, 2023