Celtic have made four major summer signings thus far as manager Neil Lennon looks to improve his squad ahead of his side’s defence of the domestic treble.
Christopher Jullien, Boli Bolingoli, Hatem Abd Elhamed and Fraser Forster have all arrived to further strengthen the Hoops backline, but the French defender and his Belgian counterpart have had a hard time hitting the ground running at Parkhead.
Bolingoli, a £3 million signing from Rapid Vienna, has only played nine games thus far, with Lennon often preferring midfielder Callum McGregor at left-back ahead of him in the crucial games, while Jullien has only featured five times.
Lennon played the duo last night as Celtic secured a 2-0 win over AIK in the first leg of their Europa League play-off, but club legend Frank McAvennie has claimed that the two summer arrivals aren’t the manager’s signings.
“Lenny obviously didn’t buy the two boys at the back. They are all saying £10million but Lenny for some reason isn’t playing them. So he obviously hasn’t bought them,” the Hoops hero said on Open Goal’s Right in the Coupon podcast.
“He doesn’t like what he sees in training. I’m just surmising here what it is. And obviously it wasn’t him that brought them in. He likes what is in front of him.
“To play McGregor before Bolingoli doesn’t make a lot of sense to me. Something must be wrong. Maybe, who knows he may have a wee injury and Lenny is keeping it a secret?”
Jullien arrived from Toulouse, costing Celtic £7 million, and was expected to be a guaranteed starter having been identified as the direct replacement for Dedryck Boyata.
Bolingoli was brought in to replace Kieran Tierney, but it remains to be seen if both defenders will be able to force their ways into Lennon’s starting XI anytime soon.
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