Juninho set after o'Neill

Published on Thursday 26 August 2004 00:44

THE Mounties seem to get their man quicker these days than the average football club. A quest that began six weeks ago finally ended yesterday, when Celtic captured the Brazilian midfielder, Juninho, from Middlesbrough.

Of course, the old Canadian redcoats tend not to have to cut through an army of agents, sponsors and advisers planted between them and their quarry. But Martin O’Neill, the Celtic manager, revealed that, on this occasion, the duration of the chase was not related to lengthy and intricate negotiations, but to the player’s uncertainty over his future with the Premiership club.

Clearly happy to have secured Juninho’s signature on a two-year contract - deepening his and the Parkhead directors’ satisfaction would be the fact that no transfer fee was payable - O’Neill said: "Although I first asked Steve McClaren (the Middlesbrough manager) about Juninho just before the start of our American tour last month, the actual negotiating time was not that long.

"I was given permission to speak to the player just after we returned from North America. But the point is that the player himself was unsure of where he stood with Middlesbrough and wanted to know if he would be a regular in the team this season. I was quite prepared to wait to see what would happen on the opening day in England.

"I had thought that, if it was clear to him that he would not be involved as a regular, it could have an influence on his decision on whether or not to consider coming here. Juninho himself made the point that, in an ideal world, he would have liked to stay with Middlesbrough if Steve was going to pick him.

"But it’s clear that he wants to play football and that’s why I’m delighted to say he has decided to come to Celtic. There was no fee involved. Middlesbrough have kindly allowed him to come here. We have basically picked up his contract. He could have stayed in England and simply seen it through, but he wants to be involved."

It is obvious that O’Neill has given the talented little midfielder - a World Cup winner with Brazil - assurances that he will be an important member of the Celtic squad. Juninho himself confirmed that his desire to join the Scottish champions was sharpened entirely by his talks with the manager.

"When you are making an important decision such as moving to a new club, it doesn’t matter about the chairman or the chief executive of the club you are thinking of joining. They are not the ones who are going to decide whether to play you or not. The most important decision is the manager’s and, after talking with Mr O’Neill, I am very happy to come to Celtic."

Precisely when he will be seen in the green-and-white hoops will be dependent on the expediency with which the Scottish Office processes the Parkhead club’s application for a work permit. O’Neill was confident that the required document would be obtained by the end of the week, making the player available for selection for the first Old Firm match of the season, at Celtic Park on Sunday.

"I’m not familiar with the work permit mechanism," said O’Neill, "and I just take advice on these things from Peter (Lawell, Celtic’s chief executive). I’m told that Juninho needs one because, although a foreigner spending five years in Britain is considered to be an assimilated player, it has to be five unbroken years.

"Juninho has a spell with Atletico Madrid in between his periods at Middlesbrough, but I’m advised it should not be a problem and that the work permit should be here before the weekend. Whether or not he will play against Rangers remains to be seen.

"This has nothing to do with his ability, his experience or his readiness to handle a big occasion. God knows, anyone who’s achieved what he has, winning the World Cup, has succeeded in the biggest occasion of all. But there are some training sessions to go through and, most of all, the familiarisation with his new teammates. That can take a little while, to see how a new player fits in with the team and how the others go about things. And the Rangers match is a massive occasion just to throw somebody into."

Nevertheless, it is impossible to imagine that Juninho, granted the required status with the immigration department and physical fitness, will not be involved at some stage of the game against Celtic’s fiercest rivals. O’Neill’s long-standing admiration for the 31-year-old Brazilian is so pronounced that he is unlikely to have recruited him before an Old Firm match simply to make him a spectator.

"I remember when I was at Leicester and we played Middlesbrough in the 1997 League Cup final," said O’Neill. "We had played them a couple of weeks before and Juninho was absolutely brilliant, quite unstoppable. So much so that we had to tell Pontius Kamark, our Swedish player, to do nothing but mark him in the final.

"Even a couple of years ago, I’m sure anybody would have considered him among the best midfielders in Europe. So, we have to assess him in training and see what’s best, but I’m sure we’ll fit him in somewhere."

Juninho chose the No7 jersey left behind by Henrik Larsson without the slightest hesitation, clearly unencumbered by the possibility of comparisons being made between himself and the incomparable striker.

"Well, it was either that or the number two, which were all that were available," he said. "Actually, I didn’t know it was a famous number here at Celtic. Anyway, I’m not here to be compared with Henrik. I’m not here to break any scoring records. When you’re wearing a shirt, it doesn’t matter what the number is on the back."

• Celtic are expected to be among the third seeds in today’s Champions League draw, which begins at 3pm in Monaco. If Rangers got past CSKA Moscow last night, they would almost certainly join their city rivals in the third pot.

Arsenal and Manchester United - if the Old Trafford club qualified last night - will avoid Spanish opposition in tomorrow’s draw for the Champions League group stage after retaining their place among the elite group of top seeds.

Arsenal and Manchester United remain among the eight top-ranked sides despite a shake-up in UEFA’s seeding system with both Chelsea and Liverpool among the second seeds. Holders Porto, four Spanish sides and Bayern Munich make up the other top seeds.

UEFA have changed their coefficient system to give more weight to a club’s performances in Europe and less to how all clubs from a particular country have done overall. The biggest effect has been on Liverpool, who were among the top seeds in 2002-03 but who fall in the ranking because they have only played in the Champions League twice in the last five years.