Alistair Johnston has opened up on his first encounter with Josip Juranovic since becoming a Celtic player.

The Hoops' new recruit has revealed that he spoke with the Croatia defender in the aftermath of their nations' World Cup clash.

The Canada international recently penned a five-year-deal at Parkhead. 

The right-back will provide competition for Juranovic at Celtic, although speculation continues to mount that the 26-year-old will be heading for pastures new in January.

It seems to be widely thought that Johnston will be the successor to Juranovic in Glasgow's east end. 

And while they might not end up being teammates for long, Johnston says he was given a warm welcome to Celtic by his new teammate following Croatia's 4-1 win over Canada.

He told the media: "I did actually talk with him a little bit afterwards. I just said hello and he was really good about going out of his way. He made sure he came and found me even after a big 4-1 win for them. 

"He’s a great player. He was one of the best players on the pitch and he’s ben showing that the whole World Cup. 

"Let’s hope Croatia keep doing what they are doing as potentially they could lift the World Cup."

The defender continued: "He’s an unbelievable player. He was one of the guys when I walked off the pitch after we played Croatia that I thought: Yeah, he’s a top, top player. 

“Just his ability to take space. He just sees space in front of him, he doesn’t think twice and dribbles right into it. You think what a great decision again. That’s special. 

“I haven’t really met him yet, but whenever you get a chance to see someone that, hopefully, I will be close with in the near future and you get to see them competing at this high, high level, not only that but representing your country at a World Cup. 

“For him to be a starter, to be a massive part of that Croatia team and contributing out there, I think it is really special for him and only going to build on his confidence. 

“He is definitely the type of guy I would look up to as a full-back.  

“I think there is a lot of things from his game that I would love to add to mine that can definitely help me take another step altogether as a player."

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