Celtic just can't get enough of Elijah Just, and they should be kicking themselves if they miss this transfer gem. The Scottish club could have snapped him up for £2 million six months ago, but now they face a signing battle from beyond these shores.
World Cup Shop Window
It's hardly a surprise given the main host nation, but this World Cup has taken advertising to a new level. FIFA has even managed to sneakily make the game four quarters rather than two halves, with some excuse about hydration breaks being the Trojan horse because they simply cannot wait 45 minutes for the chance to flog more stuff. But some things don't change. The Greatest Show on Earth has always been the biggest shop window on the planet for players.
Some of them have already done a magnificent marketing job for themselves. Like Elijah Just. The Motherwell man could not have provided a better advertisement for himself if he'd played wearing a sandwich board. The Fir Park club won't want to lose another crown jewel after waving goodbye to boss Jens Berthel Askou, but at least they can take heart in the fact the midfielder's value has probably skyrocketed on the back of his blockbuster display against Iran.
Missed Opportunity
Meanwhile, Celtic should be kicking themselves at the very real possibility they have missed the boat on a player who looked tailor made for Parkhead. Plenty of Hoops fans wanted their club to make a move for the New Zealand playmaker at the end of the season. But it was too late by then. Celtic could have snapped him up for £2 million six months ago. Now they will be lucky not to get laughed off for several times that amount.
There was no way Just was going to sign anywhere on the eve of a World Cup as any agent worth their salt would tell their clients to hold fire because it was shop window time. No, it was January when Celtic should have made their move. It was already blindingly obvious Just was a player. All the talk back then was about Martin O'Neill making a move for striker Tawanda Maswanhise. They really should have been trying to tempt Just instead.
Maswanhise enjoyed a cracking season, even if he did go off the boil a bit as it wore on, but it was the little fella playing behind him who should have been the real target. Just was exactly what Celtic needed then and even more so now. He can play in the number 10 role, just in the pocket off the left – right in the area Reo Hatate has occupied for much of the last four years. Hatate's tea is out at Celtic. He stayed at least a year too long and by the end of term he was in the O'Neill bomb squad nowhere to be seen. He'll be checking out in the next few weeks and Celts will be crying out for a bit of creativity in that position.
Hard as Nails
It's not only that though. He might be about nine stone soaking wet, but looks can be deceptive. The wee Kiwi is as hard as nails. He loves a tackle and refuses to be bullied. Look back at the last time Motherwell were at Celtic Park. He got cemented by Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain in the first few minutes and it left his shin looking like a slab of corned beef. Yet he battled on for an hour and it wasn't until he had to hobble off that Celtic finally got a grip. He's got bite as well as end product.
Just scored seven goals last season and had another seven assists – those are numbers better than any of the Hoops wingers last season – and he's added another couple for his country at the World Cup. And with it, he's probably now shot himself beyond Celtic's reach.
Global Interest
It's not just about the World Cup though. The old shop window stuff is only partially true these days. Gone are the times of an Oleg Saluki getting a move on the back of a ridiculous few weeks and then proving it might have been a flash in the pan. There won't be a player over the pond who is not on the scouting databases of clubs around the globe. Just will be one of them, but what the Iran show might have done is prompt a few to call up a search on their files and check out what he's been doing in the last 12 months.
They'll quickly see his numbers are impressive and if they dig out the footage of the matches against the top sides in Scotland, they'll clock the wee man running the show against Celtic, Rangers and Hearts each time. His phone is going to be ringing off the hook when he gets back from the US.
Celtic's Lesson
Celtic should be one of them. It's not as if they couldn't afford him now, as there will be a cap on his value, just because the market will dictate it, and he might still be within range for £5 million or £6 million. The trouble is he'll have a ton of options – and the chance to earn some wild wages. But this should be another one of those lessons Celtic keep talking about learning. This is a club that really needs to get on the front foot and start being proactive rather than continually fire fighting.
The Hoops squad is already about 10 players down from the end of term and the clock is ticking. It's less than a fortnight to pre-season training resuming and the Champions League qualifier is now just over 60 days away. Punters might have their eye on the World Cup but Celts need to get moving. Otherwise they will get their Just desserts.
