LENNY REVEALS HOPES FOR NEW BHOYS

NEIL LENNON believes £7million defender Christopher Jullien will make an instant impact at Celtic.

And the Hoops boss hopes fellow-new Bhoy Luca Connell, who cost around £350,000 from Bolton, emulates the French colossus. as they kick off their Parkhead careers.

Jullien become the club’s first summer arrival from Toulouse on Friday with the Republic of Ireland prospect arriving yesterday.

Lennon, after watching his side beat Austrian Third Division outfit Wiener SC 2-1, told the Mail on Sunday: “Jullien has been our No1 target for quite a while, so it’s really good to get that deal established.

“I think he is pleased about it, too.

“The good thing with Jullien is that his wife is British and that will be a big help in terms of him settling.

“He is certainly not a project. He is hopefully going to come in and hit the ground running.

“Jullien might need a bit of work to start with and we’ll need to integrate him with the squad but he is coming in to play.”

The 6ft 5in centre-back is expected to join his team-mates over the next couple of days and he could feature in the next warm-up match against Swiss side St Gallen on Tuesday.

NEW BHOY…Luca Connell in Austria last night.

Connell, who made 12 appearances for Wanderers last season as they were relegated to League One, flew into Vienna in time to witness Leigh Griffiths and Vakoun Issouf Bayo score the goals in the friendly victory over their Austrian opponents and is viewed by Lennon as one to watch.

The Irishman added: “Luca is a young player and we like the talent. He will be a welcome addition to the squad – he is bubbly and a good footballer.

“He did some good things in a short space of time at Bolton.

“Obviously, there was an opportunity there to take him and I think the club acted in really good faith with Bolton.

“We will see how it goes. We couldn’t ignore his talent and he is one we want to develop. He may dip in and out or he may come and hit the ground running, we will need to wait and see.

“He has a good range of passing, is well balanced, has good vision and, at 18, we think he has a good chance to make a name for himself.

“He came to my attention a few months ago, so we have been working away in the background.”

Satisfied to get those two deals over the line after the collapse of David Turnbull’s £3.25 million transfer from Motherwell, Lennon insisted there is no more imminent business in the offing.

The Hoops gaffer reacted to the question of a move for Luton full-back Jack Stacey as “speculation”.