Scottish Premiership champions Celtic reportedly want to sign Toulouse's Ligue 1 centre-back Christopher Jullien.
We all know what Celtic’s transfer strategy entails.
The Scottish Premiership champions tend to sign young, hungry players on bargain deals before developing them, honing their talents and selling them on for a big profit. See Moussa Dembele, Virgil van Dijk and Stuart Armstrong.
As a result, it is rare that Celtic spend a substantial sum of money on a player over the age of 21 or 22. In fact, Scott Sinclair was the last player who joined Parkhead in the midst of his professional career for a substantial fee, all the way back in 2016.
But things could be about to change. According to the Daily Record, The Hoops are interested in Christopher Jullien, the 26-year-old Toulouse defender who will apparently cost an eye-watering £8 million.
Jullien is hardly the typical Celtic target but you can hardly blame The Hoops for making an exception.
Anyone who has watched Celtic in Europe in recent years will tell you that the club are crying out for some leadership and experience at centre-back.
Kristoffer Ajer, Jozo Simunovic and co are talented players but thrashings at Barcelona, PSG and Bayern, not to mention disappointing defeats against Zenit, Valencia and many other ‘secondary clubs’ across the continent highlights a tendency to collapse on the biggest occasion.
Jullien, however, is a commanding and confident defender who is not too dissimilar to a certain Virgil van Dijk, both in the way he plays and the way he speaks.
£8 million is a lot of money for a club like Celtic but, after another season of European failure, now is the perfect time for the Hoops to make a change. He is exactly the kind of character who can transform the club's performances in Europe.
Have something to tell us about this article?
