Celtic will not have to find a flat next to M&S in Argyle Street for the more worldly version of the Brazilian who is expected to sign tomorrow or Tuesday and make his debut in the Old Firm game a week today. They will, however, have to accommodate his individualism in the 4-4-2 they have adopted since the start of the season.
Jon Hassall, the player’s agent, confirmed the deal is almost complete last night. “I would presume the deal should go through on Monday or Tuesday,” he said. “This has been the toughest decision of Juninho’s career and he wouldn’t have left for just anyone, but Celtic are a big, big club and he’s excited about joining them.”
Martin O’Neill knows from his Leicester days that the Brazilian is a player who can break a system. When winning the League Cup in 1997 after a replay, O’Neill used Pontus Kaamark as a man marker to subdue the Brazilian over the 240 minutes that it took for Leicester to triumph. It was a compliment that he paid to only three players during his four-and-a-half years at Filbert Street. A fact he recalled in a chat with John Robertson, his assistant, on Friday.
“John and I were just talking about that,” said O’Neill. “Of all the games that we played at Leicester, there were only three players that we did that with. Juninho was man-marked, Steve McManaman when he was absolutely flying at Liverpool, and David Ginola. Juninho had played against us a couple of weeks earlier at Filbert Street in a League game and was mesmeric and we decided to keep a wee bit of a close eye on him and the Swedish lad Pontus Kaamark played him very fairly. Obviously, good players don’t like somebody breathing down their neck.”
Kaamark has since retired and is working for Swedish TV at the Olympics but was happy to recall from Athens last week his two jousts with Juninho. The Swedish midfielder had just returned from injury and played badminton to improve his footwork and fitness before facing up to the darting Brazilian. “I knew I would have to try and get as close to him as possible to close down his space. If I had allowed him to run at me there would have only been one winner.
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“Martin O’Neill always told me I was rubbish with the ball at my feet and better without. He rated me and Emile Heskey as the best players in one-on-ones, so I knew there was a chance that he would play me in that role. Juninho was really sharp in the first game but I thought he had tired by the second. It was a tactical triumph for Leicester, we basically played 10 against 10. Martin knew Leicester could play without me but Middlesbrough couldn’t cope without Juninho. He (Juninho) didn’t say anything to me after the final as he was very upset. I’m not surprised, I had been following him about for 240 minutes, I almost went to the loo with him.”
Middlesbrough paid £10.75m for Juninho in signing him twice, they re-signed him after he helped Brazil to win World Cup 2002, and Atletico Madrid lavished £12m on him between those spells on Teesside. Injuries, including a broken ankle that kept him out of France 98 and a cruciate ligament suffered at the start of his second spell at Middlesbrough, have perhaps dulled his explosiveness but O’Neill is convinced that his pedigree can help Celtic in the Champions League. “I think injury always takes its toll,” said the Celtic manager, “but he was flying in those days, that is why Atletico Madrid paid £12m for him, and great players can still get out of situations and there’s no doubt he was a great player.”
O’Neill sees the Brazilian’s match-deciding inventiveness as the extra gear that Celtic have lacked in their attempts to escape the first group stage of the Champions League. “We know from our own experiences what we think is necessary, although being able to do something about it is a different matter. We went pretty close last season but for all three years that we have been involved in European football to a very decent level I think we are kind of at full stretch and I think what you are trying to add is that wee bit of extra quality. Henrik has departed the scene so you would say that we are actually weaker in that sense, so it is up to us to try and strengthen and give ourselves a chance. We’re pretty pleased with the way things have gone with ourselves and the player.”
Juninho could inherit Henrik Larsson’s No 7 shirt and place in Celtic’s marketing strategy, Middlesbrough sold an extra 8,000 season tickets on the back of their original capture and he was adored by their fans, but, as a player, he is more of a replacement for Lubo Moravcik. “I think Lubo has a better left foot,” said Stan Varga, Moravcik’s fellow Slovak, with a smile, “but he can be a similar player to Lubo.”