Right back is one of the areas where Celtic have been looking for options for quite some time as Mikael Lustig is currently in the final few months of his contract. In January, the Bhoys were linked with plenty of right backs. They managed to sign Jeremy Toljan of Borussia Dortmund in the final few days of the January transfer window, and it seemed like a massive coup for the Glaswegian giants.
The fact that the fullback was coming from a club of Dortmund’s stature excited the fans, and he was more or less regular for the Bundesliga giants in the last season. However, two months into his Celtic loan spell and one could already make out now why the German defender failed to make a single appearance for Dortmund in the Bundesliga in the first half of the current season.
Blessed with impressive pace, Toljan has looked bright in games when the Hoops haven’t been under much pressure defensively. The 24-year-old seemed like a decent attack-minded full-back. However, against opponents where he has been tested defensively, Toljan has been found wanting big time.
Celtic needed a right back who can step up as Lustig isn’t too bad an option if one thinks about it in hindsight. The Swedish international is full of commitment and determination, and he would always look okay against teams who wouldn’t test him much on the defensive front. In big Europa League games though, the 32-year-old struggled on occasions. It was clear that if Celtic wanted to hit the next level, then they needed to upgrade on their right back.
However, Toljan seems to be in a similar boat as Lustig. Given the fact that Celtic dominate so much of possession against most of their opponents, the defender gets away with it. But recently against Aberdeen, he was all over the place defensively as his touch and positioning sense was abominable.
After those recent performances, Celtic would be glad that they haven’t got Toljan on a permanent basis. We might be slightly jumping the gun here as the defender is still in the early stage in a new league. Therefore he might take some time to settle in.
However, if Celtic are thinking of a proper upgrade over Lustig then on current evidence, Toljan falls short. His contract with the Bundesliga heavyweight run until 2022, and we highly doubt that he would come in for a cheap enough price in the summer. So we feel Celtic might have to look at other options in a few months time to solve their right back woes.
