Julian Araujo has established himself as a fan favourite since joining the club on loan from Bournemouth in the winter transfer window. Incidentally, he was the only signing made by Celtic during the Wilfried Nancy era. Arguably, the sole right decision that was made during that period as well.

Naturally, plenty of eyebrows were raised when it came to signing Araujo. After all, the Mexican international had made just one appearance in the first half of the season for Bournemouth.

Celtic needed players who could come in and hit the ground running. On paper, he did not look like someone capable of doing that. Fortunately, he is proving the doubters wrong right now.

Araujo has been a regular starter for Celtic at right-back. And he is expected to hold onto that spot, having put in solid performances.

Even more importantly, he has managed to form a connection with the Celtic supporters, something that very few recent signings have been able to do.

His actions against the Rangers would have endeared Araujo even more to the supporters, and there are plenty of calls for him to be signed permanently in the summer for what he brings both on and off the pitch. Unfortunately, there is some bad news for Celtic in that regard.

Competition is emerging for his signature. According to Vamos Show, Mexican side Cruz Azul want to sign Araujo.

Celtic are not believed to hold an option to buy in the loan deal for Araujo. So, they will have to agree on a fee with Bournemouth if they want to sign him permanently.

That can always get tricky, as we learned from the Adam Idah saga in the past, when the Hoops ended up having to overpay to sign the striker based on his displays over a half-season loan stint.

The presence of other teams in the race to sign Araujo will only drive his transfer valuation up.

Celtic do have an advantage over Cruz Azul in the race to sign Araujo for sure. The right-back is expected to prefer staying in Europe over heading back to North America at this point in his career.

Also, let's not forget that he already knows he has a role at Celtic. That won't be the case if he ends up joining a new team and starting afresh.

Of course, that could change with the return of Alistair Johnston, whenever that happens. But considering the Canadian international's injury record, it might be time to start preparing for life beyond him as the starting Celtic right-back.

Perhaps most importantly, he is clearly enjoying life at Celtic. Hopefully, all these factors will be enough to convince him to stay.

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