Celtic were expected to bring in a centre-back this summer, with Christopher Jullien struggling to break into Ange Postecoglou’s plans. A lot of fans were left underwhelmed though when the Hoops signed Moritz Jenz on a season-long loan from Ligue 1 side, Lorient. The German defender is coming off of a difficult campaign.
Jenz was linked with Celtic last summer as well but ended up at Lorient instead. There, he struggled for playing time, despite the fact that the French club were going through a difficult campaign and barely managed to stay up in Ligue 1. According to stats from Transfermarkt, he made 18 appearances and played 1473 minutes of football in total.
While fans might not have been delighted with the signing of Jenz, his comments upon joining surely must have endeared him to the majority of the support. He declared Celtic as the biggest club in Scotland and admitted he is hoping for something long-term.
As reported by Celtic’s official website, he said:
"“Celtic are a big name in Europe, and it’s the biggest club in Scotland. Obviously everybody dreams of playing for a big club and competing for trophies, and the lure of the fans, the atmosphere in the stadium, so I’m really looking forward to it.“I hope it will be a long-term thing because for me it’s a dream, and I hope I can do my best for the club and do well. Anywhere you go, you have to have a quick impact and be 100 per cent ready.”"
Jenz makes brilliant Celtic claim after completing Parkhead move
Jenz is on a season-long loan from Lorient right now but Celtic do have an option to buy included in the deal. This type of deal worked brilliantly for them last season, with Jota and Cameron Carter-Vickers. Fans will be hoping that the German defender is able to have a similar impact as well.
Just because it did not work out for him at Lorient does not mean that it won’t at Celtic. He did show a lot of promise during his time in Switzerland with Lausanne-Sport.
Ange Postecoglou has done a brilliant job when it comes to signing players who fit his system. It remains to be seen if Jenz falls into that category. At this point of time, one would not expect him to be a starter anyway, with Carter-Vickers and Carl Starfelt holding those spots.