Celtic boss Neil Lennon has named the player that Hoops centre-back Christopher Jullien should be looking to emulate.
That player is former Hoops defender and Liverpool mainstay Virgil Van Dijk. Lennon knows Van Dijk very well from his first spell as Celtic boss, and he has called on Jullien to set his sights high.
“Virgil is the benchmark” Lennon said, as reported by the BBC. He went on to say that he feels the player has ‘similar attributes’ in his game to the £75 million centre-back.
“Similar attributes”
“Since he (Jullien) has settled, he has been absolutely outstanding with similar attributes to Virgil. He has to look at that and say ‘how close can I get to that?’ and there is no doubt he can improve and take his game on and there is that willingness from him to do so” the Hoops boss concluded.
There is little doubt that Van Dijk is currently one of the best centre-backs in the world. Perhaps he is the best. He is certainly a player that Jullien should be looking to emulate.
Van Dijk is the better player. But the duo do share a similar trait in their ability to win towering headers. This was shown by Jullien with his winning goal in the 2-1 victory over Lazio.
Could defender be as successful as former Bhoy?
Interestingly, Jullien is only two years younger than Van Dijk, he is 26 and the Dutchman is 28. Their careers have almost overlapped. Will Jullien be able to win a move to the Premier League like Van Dijk did? It is too early to tell.
However, if he keeps up his current level of performance he could attract the attention of clubs looking for a centre-back.
For the moment though, he will be focusing on his career at Celtic. After all, he only arrived at the club in the summer. If he plays as well as Van Dijk did for the Hoops though, his £7 million transfer fee could end up being viewed as a bargain.
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