Jean-Kevin Duverne is another hugely talented centre-back and Celtic, Liverpool and Tottenham have scouted him in the last 12 months.
If you are looking for a talented young centre-back, hop on the latest ferry across the Channel. Raphael Varane, Kurt Zouma, Samuel Umtiti and Aymeric Laporte are just a few of the promising defenders to emerge from France in recent years and there is no reason to believe Jean-Kevin Duverne cannot follow in their footsteps and make the grade at a top European club.
The 20-year-old has earned rave reviews since breaking into the first-team of Ligue 2 side Lens and has started all but one of their nine league games so far this season. And, unsurprisingly, his talent has not gone unnoticed.
France Football reported a year ago that a number of Premier League clubs, including Tottenham Hotspur, Liverpool and Southampton have been tracking the youngster while L'Equipe also claimed interest from Scottish Champions Celtic.
And while the Premier League trio all have an enviable reputation when it comes to bringing through young talent, it is Celtic where Duverne would likely get the first-team minutes required to build on his burgeoning experience.
Especially when Brendan Rodgers’ side famously light on options at centre-half. Injuries to Dedryck Boyata and Erik Sviatchenko in the opening weeks of the season left midfielder Nir Bitton forced to fill in alongside Jozo Simunovic.
And Rodgers’ recent experimentation with a three-man defence would surely yield better results if he had an extra centre-half, rather than converted full-back Mikael Lustig, at his disposal.
In many ways, Duverne is the classic Celtic signing; young, promising, emerging in a rather untapped market and blessed with a potentially huge re-sale value.
Therefore, Rodgers’ side could do worse than to keep tabs on the youngster with their failure to recruit new defenders in January remaining a cause for concern.
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