Celtic transfer target in 'busy' agent confession as he drops biggest hint yet over future after World Cup exploits
The New Zealand international has taken the World Cup by storm and has opened up on a potential move away from Motherwell
Celtic-linked winger Elijah Just has dropped a massive hint over his future as speculation continues to mount over a potential summer transfer away from Motherwell after taking the the World Cup by storm.
The 26-year-old, who has been strongly linked with the Scottish champions as well as Rangers and other European clubs, netted three goals in three games for New Zealand as they finished bottom of Group C.
Just - last season’s Steelmen Player of the Year - notched a double in the All Whites’ opening 2-2 draw with Iran before getting on the scoresheet again in Saturday’s heavy 5-1 defeat to Belgium that sealed their tournament fate.
With uncertainty surrounding his future in North Lanarkshire, Just doesn’t know where he will be playing his football this season as he addressed his next steps in an interview with Newstalk ZB Sport from New Zealand’s World Cup base camp.
“I’m heading back to Scotland,” he confirmed. “The boys are heading to a training camp so I think I will have seven or eight days off while they are in Denmark. I’m looking forward to seeing all my pals and meeting the new coach (Alfred Johansson).
“In terms of a transfer in the window, I guess that’s my agent’s job. I hope he is busy at the moment and I will obviously speak to him and in football you never know. I will just stay focused and keep trying to get better as a footballer, then we’ll see.
”The World Cup has given me added belief and also motivation to keep pushing. There was a point in my career, one or two years ago, where I wasn’t quite sure what level I was going to be. I was a little bit stuck and maybe plateaued a little bit, so now you have a little bit of a new energy and new belief. I definitely want to test myself and see how far I can go.
“It’s something that everybody wants to do. Coming here gave me a taste of playing against top, top players. So we’ll see what happens. You just want to make it to the top level. The [English] Premier League is the peak, but I just want to be somewhere where I can keep playing football and enjoy myself.
“I have never played European football before so that would be pretty cool, but I am pretty open to what is next.”
What next for Elijah Just after creating slice of World Cup history?
Just became the joint-top World Cup scorer amongst players contract to a Scottish club, alongside Sweden and former Celtic hero Henrik Larsson.
It is difficult to envisage him staying at Fir Park beyond this summer with his outstanding form in North America not going unnoticed. Just has significantly enhanced his reputation and now transfer interest will begin to intensify with Motherwell braced for several bids.
It’s reported that top-flight clubs in France are keeping close tabs on the player’s situation, albeit the Steelmen are under no immediate pressure to sell one of their prized assets due to the attacker still being under contract until 2027, with the club holding an option to extend that agreement by a further year - a clause that has yet to be activated.