Jenz parallels with Jota

At 23, German central defender Moritz Jenz emerged from the Fulham youth setup two years ago.  A season in Switzerland with Lausanne, then one in France with Lorient, 45 games in total, is apparently enough to convince Celtic to move for the player.

Interestingly, before leaving London, he was in the same Fulham youth team as Matt O’Riley.  It seems likely that much of our scouting of the player took place before he left England.

Last season was a start-stop period for Moritz.  He kept his place in the team until injury kept him out for six weeks until December.  Thereafter he was as often on the bench as the starting line-up, as Lorient struggled to avoid relegation.

The parallels with Jota are also interesting.  Moritz is one month younger than the Portuguese, who also drifted between starting line-up and bench before arriving at Celtic, as his previous club struggled near the bottom of the league.