Where does Christopher Jullien rank amongst the club’s most expensive buys?
We all know that money doesn’t flow the same way in Scotland as it does so relentlessly south of the border in the Premier League, or even in the EFL Championship, for that matter.
While the Premier League giants have already made eyeballs turn in the 2019 summer window with some eye-watering deals for burgeoning talents across the continent, reigning Scottish champions Celtic have also stamped their authority with their financial prowess in their own backyard.
Celtic have already made a massive statement of intent with the £7million signing of French centre-back Christopher Jullien from Toulouse, while left-back Boli Bolingoli-Mbombo has also joined from Rapid Vienna.
One would expect the Hoops to bag a few more scalps this summer before the transfer deadline but it is definitely worth mentioning that the £7million paid for Jullien has made him the most expensive defender in the history of Scottish football.
Since the turn of the century over the years, Scottish giants Celtic and Rangers have pulled off quite a few audacious transfers, starting from the Gers’ £12.5million league-record capture of Tore Andre Flo in 2000 to Celtic’s £9million signing of Odsonne Edouard from PSG last summer.
Let us take a look at where Christopher Jullien ranks in Celtic’s list of most expensive transfers ever.
Odsonne Edouard – £9million
The Frenchman initially joined Celtic on loan from PSG for the 2017-18 season but his heroics in the Old Firm derbies that season prompted then-manager Brendan Rodgers to fork out a club-record £9million fee to secure his services permanently.
Edouard’s winner in the 3-2 victory over Rangers in March 2018 followed by his brace in the 5-0 demolition of the same opposition in April helped Celtic claim their seventh consecutive domestic title, as the Frenchman netted 11 times in all competitions in his debut season in Scotland.
The 21-year-old was once again in the thick of things this past season and definitely one of the driving forces behind Celtic’s accomplishment of the historic ‘treble treble’, scoring a staggering 22 goals in all competitions.
Edouard hit great heights under Rodgers and maintained his good form under Lennon, scoring in the 2-1 victory over Rangers on the last day of April before sealing his club’s third consecutive domestic treble with a brace against Hearts in the Scottish Cup final in May.
John Hartson – £6million
Having enjoyed fruitful stints south of the border at Luton Town, Arsenal, Wimbledon, West Ham and Coventry City, Hartson arrived at Celtic in the summer of 2001 as an established striker in the game, with former Hoops boss Martin O’Neill forking out £6million to bring the Welshman to Parkhead.
The powerful centre-forward repaid O’Neill’s faith in him and formed a deadly strike partnership with Chris Sutton, propelling Celtic to the Scottish title in his first season with 24 goals in all competitions.
Hartson went on to enjoy a trophy-laden spell at Parkhead, netting 109 goals in 202 appearances. The Welshman won 3 Scottish league titles, 2 Scottish Cups, as well as the Scottish League Cup in his final season before returning south of the border with West Brom.
Chris Sutton – £6million
The Nottingham-born striker arrived at Parkhead from Chelsea in the summer of 2000 following an ill-fated campaign where he scored just once for the Blues in 28 Premier League appearances.
Martin O’Neill’s decision to shell out a staggering £6million to lure him wasn’t a big gamble given that Sutton arrived as a bonafide goalscorer, courtesy of his previous heroics at Norwich City and Blackburn Rovers.
Sutton former a lethal combination up front with John Hartson, who arrived for a similar fee from Coventry City in the following summer, and fired Celtic to back-to-back domestic titles in 2000-01 and 2001-02.
The former one-cap England international went on to score 86 goals in 199 appearances for the Hoops over the course of his illustrious six-year spell at Glasgow, which also coincided with Henrik Larsson.
Neil Lennon – £5.75million
Realistically, there is probably nobody better than Lennon when it comes to having the experience of dealing with the pressure and expectations of arriving at Celtic with a lofty price-tag.
Just to remind the fans of the new generation, Lennon is not just the manager at Parkhead but he is very much a club legend, having won as many as 11 trophies as a player over the course of his seven seasons at Celtic.
Martin O’Neill splashed £5.75million in 2000 to bring Lennon to the club from Leicester City and the holding midfielder went on to establish himself as one of the stars of a Celtic side that tasted resounding success under the Irishman.
Lennon made a total of 123 appearances for the Hoops and also helped his side reach the 2003 UEFA Cup final.
Verdict
As we can see, Celtic’s latest £7million signing Christopher Jullien comes second in the list of the club’s most expensive buys ever, with only Odsonne Edouard ahead of him.
He is now the most expensive defender in the history of Scottish football, let alone Celtic for that matter.
Celtic were in the market for a new centre-back following the departure of Dedryck Boyata and Filip Benkovic and the arrival of Jullien is likely to hand them a massive boost ahead of the upcoming campaign.
It is a no-brainer that a fee of £7million for any player is next to massive in Scottish football and Jullien will be under pressure to justify his price-tag when he takes the field next season.
Although he has previously proven his mettle at a bottom-table club like Toulouse in a tougher league, the 6ft 5in defensive beast has to acclimatise to the new surroundings soon enough if he is to make an immediate impact at Parkhead.
The pressure of challenging for silverware at Celtic means that Jullien would need to bring that much-needed winning mentality and temperament to his game.
Nevertheless, Neil Lennon’s valuable words of advice should help him cope with the pressure of arriving with a lofty price-tag on his head.
