In need of defensive reinforcements this summer, especially at the heart of it, Celtic decided to buy three new centre-backs, bringing in the likes of Lee O’Connor, Hatem Abd Elhamed and Christopher Jullien.
The latter of the three was by far the most expensive, as Neil Lennon’s side paid Toulouse around £7m for the 26-year-old.
Eased into the first-team gradually, the towering centre-back has since started the last four Scottish Premiership games (all victories) and now seems at home in Glasgow.
Ahead of the game against Rennes in the Europa League, Jullien sat down with France Football and looked back over his decision to swap the south of France for Scotland.
He said: “There were some clubs that were interested, but I think Toulouse made it clear the asking price was a bit too expensive for Ligue 1 clubs. Do I have regrets? No, not at all. I’d gone around the block there. Celtic was the logical choice, and the right one for now.
“After Toulouse, it was the next step, with the goal of growing, especially by playing in Europe. They made me visit the infrastructures and the club. That made the difference. It’s a big institution. The desire is to perform. There will be people in the crowd, which is logical for great clubs.
“I want to settle and do well. Yes, the Premier League in England has always been an objective, a dream, of course, but today, I took a path that will allow me to grow regardless of what happens. We don’t know what the future will be made of.”
With nine games under his belt already this season, Jullien appears to now have the full trust of Neil Lennon, a ‘top manager’, as he describes him, who is ‘very close to his players’.
As for the Europa League, the defender is frustrated at Celtic’s elimination from the Champions League, but reassures fans the squad are completely focused on the new task at hand, which is to go as far as possible in the competition.
First, however, beating Rennes on Thursday night and ensuring they get out of the group stages.
