The Bosnian centre-half has come under a lot of criticism but looked solid as ever for Celtic against Zenit last week.
Jozo Simunovic completed all of his 79 passes last Thursday against Zenit St Petersburg in Celtic’s Europa League round of 32 clash against the Russians in Glasgow, a massive statement of intent from the Bosnian on his return to the starting team.
Simunovic was re-introduced to the fray after being in and out the team following some shaky performances throughout the winter period.
Nonetheless, Simunovic produced a commanding display against the Russian giants on Thursday; the sort of display that fans have been crying out for since his dip in form.
The 23-year-old centre-half came close to leaving the Celts in January after receiving a fair amount of interest from the Premier League. However, Brendan Rodgers simply could not justify parting ways with the youngster with the club’s defensive injury crisis in mind, despite the offering of a sizeable transfer fee.
Having completed 100% of his passes last Thursday, Simunovic is doing a fantastic job of convincing the Celtic coaching staff that he is the right man for the job when it comes to the starting centre-back positions. Not only did he produce a fine passing display, but his overall performance alongside teenager Kristoffer Ajer was brilliant, sweeping up any errors made by the midfield to protect stand in goalkeeper Dorus De Vries, earning a vitally important clean sheet to take into the second leg in St Petersburg.
The Bosnian’s performance did not go unnoticed by the Celtic fans either, who have been waiting on a performance from one of their centre-back’s such as this for quite some time, taking to Twitter to express their support for the 23-year-old. With Jack Hendry, 22, now on the books at Parkhead as well, Rodgers has quite the trio of youngsters to choose from in Simunovic, Hendry and Ajer, which can only bode well going into the future.
Here is a round up of some of the reaction…
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