Jozo Simunovic has looked reborn under Celtic boss Neil Lennon.
Neil Lennon has admitted that Jozo Simunovic is much better than he originally thought after taking the Celtic job in February.
A number of Hoops players have looked reborn since Lennon replaced Brendan Rodgers earlier this year – and Simunovic is certainly one of them.
The 25-year-old suddenly re-established himself as a first-team regular for Celtic and reminded fans of his ball-playing abilities, a bi-product of the spike in confidence that he received from Lennon.
He was playing second fiddle to Filip Benkovic and Dedryck Boyata for most of Rodgers’s last season in Glasgow, but the Bhoys boss reckons that he’s a ‘proper centre-half’.
Lennon told The Scottish Sun: “Jozo had competition here with Dedryck Boyata and Filip Benkovic and didn’t play a lot. But when I came in I thought he looked a good defender who comes up with really important goals as well.
“I didn’t realise just how good until I saw him play — especially alongside Kris Ajer. And the more they played together, the happier I was. Jozo is what you’d call a proper centre-half.”
These comments indicate that Lennon has no intention of selling the Croat.
Last week, The Record reported that Lille would be making a second attempt to sign Simunovic after a previous £4 million offer was turned down, but the Northern Irish manager seems smitten and unless it’s an offer that they simply can’t refuse, he won’t be leaving.
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