Celtic and Zagreb eye Bazunu move

LONG speculated for a move away from Southampton this summer, Firhouse native Gavin Bazunu has been linked with a move to Croatian champions Dinamo Zagreb as well as Scottish Champions Celtic before the deadline day.

The 24 year old will be out of contract at the end of the season and while Southampton will likely only receive a fraction of the €12 million they paid Manchester City for Bazunu’s services four years ago, he would represent a decent saving on the wage budget should they be able to move him on.

Bazunu has made 97 appearances for Southampton since joining though aside from his first two seasons, has failed to become a nailed on starter for the club.

Unfortunately his subsequent campaigns have been riddled with injury with a particularly nasty achilles rupture keeping him out of action for nearly a year in 2024.

Since then he has struggled for game time and loan spells at Standard Liege and Stoke City both proved to be unsuccessful.

With the arrival of Daniel Peretz to Southampton from Bayern Munich on a permanent move after a successful loan last year, it appears that Bazunu has fallen further down the pecking order.

Zagreb won their national cup last season while Celtic managed a league title victory following a last day victory over Hearts.

While Celtic would seem like the most fashionable option, several Irish players moving to them in recent years have found varying levels of success.

Adam Idah was not thought of highly by the fan base despite scoring a relatively impressive 29 goals in 76 games, though Liam Scales has carved himself a solid career over the last five years or so.

Zagreb is certainly more of an unknown, though Bazunu may wish to follow the example set by countryman Troy Parrott in leaving the traditional developmental grounds of Scotland and England in search of an alternate path in Europe.

Based on Parrott’s recent €20 million move to Real Betis from AZ Alkmaar this is certainly a decision that can pay off.

Ultimately it remains to be seen where he will end up but one thing is almost a certainty, he will not be at St Mary’s at the end of the transfer window.