Moritz Jenz has admitted he would relish the prospect of playing Premier League football at former club Fulham as the Lorient defender closes in on a move to Celtic, speaking via the Scottish Sun.
The Berlin-born 23-year-old certainly has unfinished business this side of The Channel. Jenz spent five seasons at Fulham between 2015 and 2020 but failed to make a single first-team appearance before being let go.
Now, after a stint in Switzerland and an impressive spell across the water in France 1, Jenz is on his way back to Britain. According to Football Scotland, Celtic are closing in on an initial loan deal for a man who is equally comfortable at centre-half and wide on the right.
But Jenz harbours no bitterness about the way his time at Craven Cottage came to an end. In fact, he believes his Fulham story still has a couple of chapters yet to be written.
Will Celtic-bound Moritz Jenz return to Fulham in the future?
“The training was hard, not in terms of intensity, but in terms of physicality,” says the German, who played alongside Celtic playmaker Matt O’Riley in Fulham’s youth ranks.
“My team-mates showed me that they didn’t like it that a German took their place away from them. If there’s one thing I learned in England, it was not to put up with anything and to show toughness in the game.
“Overall, my time at Fulham was brilliant. I made enormous progress both personally and athletically. For me, Fulham is a great club and I hope to be able to play for this club again in the Premier League at some point.”
Hone his already considerable talents at Celtic and there will certainly be plenty of Premier League scouts flocking to Parkhead in the near future. And Jenz, when asked to describe his style of play, paints the picture of a man perfectly suited to Ange Postecoglou’s unique brand of possession based football.
A ball-playing centre-half was one of Celtic’s top priorities this summer. It looks like they’ve just found one.
“I don’t see myself as a classic central defender who tries to ruin the game. I see myself more as the first line of attack and a player who builds up play,” Jenz explains.
What’s more, the youngster models his style on two of the 21st century’s finest, most technically gifted central defenders.
“I love having the game in front of me, dictating what pace we go at,” Jenz adds. “I also try to learn a lot from my role models; Jerome Boateng and Leonardo Bonucci.”
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