Nick Hammond has done some impressive recruitment since walking through the doors of Celtic Park. However, none has arguably been more important than Christopher Jullien.
With Filip Benkovic and Dedryck Boyata departing over the summer, they needed to bring in a capable centre-half.
Jullien has proven to be that during his spell at Celtic, even if there have been a few errors along the way.
Against Livingston on Wednesday, the 26-year-old made a mistake as he allowed Australian forward Lyndon Dykes to easily slide past him before setting up the hosts’ second goal of the encounter.
This wasn’t the first time Dykes had ran him ragged, though. Against Livi earlier in the campaign, Jullien had struggled to contain the Aussie attacker who gave him a torrid time in offensive positions.
Although the Frenchman was far from his best on Wednesday, he has delivered in one of the areas Hammond and Lennon identified when bringing him to Celtic for £7m.
Speaking after Celtic’s 1-0 win over St Johnstone last week, Lennon commented: “When we looked at Jullien, scoring goals was something we thought he could do in Scotland and Europe. He’s a threat and he has worked on it as he wants to get on the end of things.
“My old manager Martin O’Neill had plenty of players like that at Leicester and Celtic. Jullien would fit right into that mould. He’s brave and puts his head on things in both boxes.”
The defender showed his attacking prowess last weekend, making a nuisance of himself as he came close to diverting Ryan Christie’s goal into the back of the net himself.
But the fact of the matter is that Jullien’s seven strikes this season make him worth the investment. After all, bringing in a goal-scoring centre-half looked as though it was high on Celtic’s agenda last summer.
Per analysis tool Smarterscout, the 26-year-old has a higher xG (expected goals) per game than Odsonne Edouard. On top of that, his attacking output rating in the Europa League is 76/99 – something that outlines his prowess in the opposition penalty area.
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The tool uses algorithms and mathematical models developed by North Yard Analytics (NYA) to assess different aspects of players’ performances. In this case, analysing an attacking skillset, contributions to xGF per minute that a player’s team is in possession of the ball is the key factor.
It’s clear Jullien has a large involvement in Celtic’s attacking play from dead-ball scenarios and if you can look past the mistakes, specifically against Livi, you have to say this has been a brilliant piece of business.
Hammond and his scouting team should be applauded.
In other news, Celtic are tracking a player compared to a £144m-rated Premier League STAR…