Celtic, the domestic ‘Invincibles’ and treble winners of 2016-17 Scottish football, have not been much active in the transfer window in past few weeks like their bitter rivals Rangers and the Hoops boss Brendan Rodgers has taken a strong ‘No Sale’ stance to keep hold of their star performers in order to be ready for upcoming Champions League qualifying rounds fixtures.
The ex-Liverpool boss, however, has acquired the service of 29-year old Irish winger Jonny Hayes on 17th June from rivals Aberdeen and reportedly made a £4.8million bid for Ligue 2 outfit RC Lens’ young Frenchman Jean-Kevin Duverne.
Duverne, 19, has been a long-standing transfer target of Brendan Rodgers who first expressed his desire to bring him in the January transfer window. RC Lens, who were fighting for promotion back then rejected a move.
But their failure to win a promotion might force the French second tier outfit to sell their highly rated centre-back and despite being monitored by a host of top European outfits, Celtic seem to be his probable destination as they are the only side who have lodged a bid and shown persistent interest for the prodigy.
Duverne, predominantly a centre-back, also capable of playing in both fullback positions and appeared 41 times in all competitions starting 39 of them during 2016-17 season. Although, Lens narrowly missed out on a promotion, the youngster, however, proved to be the most consistent performer for his side and kept on impressing with his flourished defensive attributes.
He is calm, focused and holds great sense of positioning with considerable intercepting, tackling and blocking skills. His only weakness is his aerial ability but the 6 ft 1⁄2 in teenager has time to improve and is already hailed for his pace, power and high work ethic.
Brendan Rodgers is known for adoring young talents and he has sustained his philosophy in Celtic as well. The likes of Moussa Dembélé and Kieran Tierney have flourished under his guidance.
The Hoops already have Dedryck Boyata, Erik Sviatchenko and Jozo Simunovic in deep defence, but they still need to strengthen their back-line for a better run in Europe and a dynamic youngster like Duverne will be a huge asset for years to come.
Duverne idolizes Sergio Ramos and Thiago Silva and dreams to be as big a name as they are right now in near future. With loads of potential, Celtic might be the ideal destination for him where he will be guided and nurtured by Brendan Rodgers who is regarded for bringing Philippe Coutinho in the limelight and helping Luis Suarez to reach next level of virtuosity.
