Celtic will have to break their transfer record to sign Christopher Jullien.
News emerged yesterday that the Toulouse defender was wanted by the hoops to fill the gaps left by the departures of Dedryck Boyata and Filip Benkovic.
A year ago Celtic paid Paris Saint Germain £9m to sign Odsonne Edouard with that fee having to be bettered to complete a deal with Toulouse.
Jullien has two years left on his contract with Toulouse with the Daily Record claiming that there is also interest from Germany and England in the 26-year-old.
Celtic are locked in a £10m transfer tussle for Toulouse defender Christopher Jullien – as they agreed to splash out another £3m on Motherwell prodigy David Turnbull.
Record Sport can confirm Scotland’s champions have opened discussions with the French club in the hope of landing Jullien as Dedryck Boyata’s replacement but already facing fierce competition from rival bidders in England and Germany.
The Parkhead club’s chief executive Peter Lawwell has initially been quoted a price of around £8m for the towering 26-year-old but Celtic expect that fee to rise in the coming days as the interest in Jullien heats up.
Celtic have been linked with a range of central defenders with Neil Lennon’s squad seriously short in that area.
With Kris Ajer getting a delayed break after being involved in international action Jozo Simunovic and Jack Hendry are the only central defenders scheduled to report for pre-season training on Monday.
Celtic have used the French market extensively in recent seasons with Edouard signed a year ago for £9m from Paris Saint Germain while Moussa Dembele and Olivier Ntcham have been capped at youth and u-21 level.