Toljan, Jeremy

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Fullname: Jeremy Isaiah Richard Toljan
aka: Jeremy Toljan
Born: 8 Aug 1994
Birthplace: Stuttgart, Germany
Signed: 31 Jan 2019 (loan from Borussia Dortmund)
Left: 25 May 2019 (back to Borussia Dortmund)
Position: Right Back, Defence
Debut: St Johnstone 0-2 Celtic, League, 2 Feb 2019
Squad No.: 2
Internationals: Germany [TBC]
International Caps: ? [complete at end of career]
International Goals: ? [complete at end of career]

Biog

Jeremy Toljan joined Celtic at the last minute of the January 2019 transfer window. Celtic needed backup for the right-back position with Lustig in decline, and Ralston still too young & inexperienced to be relied on in what was then seen as an increasingly tight race to the league title. Toljan came in to assist on loan, but Celtic could not negotiate a possible purchase option with the deal (which turned out to be unnecessary).

As for his CV, it was very impressive with a run through the German national sides from U17s through to the U21s and then then German Olympics side. Also he had good experience with both 1899 Hoffenheim & Borussia Dortmund. It boded well.

At Celtic, he came on in the second half of a 2-0 victory over St Johnstone in the league for his debut only two days after his signing, and most felt that he fitted in fine with a steady performance.

Jeremy Toljan was impressive in his debut, his touch appeared to be good & regardless of how tight a space he was in he never looked flustered receiving a pass, great balance too, looked like a fine player. He may only be at Celtic for 4 months but Celtic looked to have a player on their hands.

But that match was to be misleading, as every game that passed the more he was just not that convincing and he never reproduced his debut match form. Certainly never a stout defender which included a clumsy sending off v Valencia away in the UEFA Cup when Celtic were impressive in the game till that point, and went on to lose the match after being cut down to ten men.

A string of unconvincing performances followed, with notably a dire performance v Dundee in a 1-0 league win which made the majority question his position in the side. As Neil Lennon had just taken over as manager following the premature departure of Brendan Rodgers, many were wondering if Lennon would continue to give Toljan a chance or not.

His lack of defensive awareness often resulted in him being on the wrong side and getting booked or sent off from the resultant fouls. Tidy enough on the ball with quick feet but not worth paying a big fee for.

He was supposedly rated as a potential transfer for £6m, but how he was valued at such a level seemed unfathomable. It was often the English league who overvalued their players to this extent, but here was a Bundesliga player now in the same bracket. In truth, there were junior players in the lesser leagues who had the same level of ability. If Celtic were to pay £6 million for him, he wouldn’t just be the most expensive right back in the club’s history, he’d also have cost more than every right back in Celtic’s history put together, not likely to happen.

He simply didn’t measure up, and wasn’t the answer to Celtic’s right-back problems. Lustig may have been in decline but he was still a good stalwart, and his value was being proved by the difficulty to replace him. There was a strong case that Gamboa was a better player than Toljan despite being further back in line for the right-back spot.

For many sceptics, his transfer characterised the cynical attitude towards Rodgers’ final period at Celtic. Rodger’s premature departure didn’t help Toljan and the support’s very low opinion of the chief scout under Rodgers seemed to depress matters further.

Once Brendan Rodgers left and Neil Lennon returned as manager, Toljan was sidelined even more.

In interviews with the online sites Goal & Spox, Toljan was more optimistic about his future in the top tier than any Celtic fans were:

“I have still three years on my contract in Dortmund from next summer on. So I expect to play for BVB again. I will take the situation as it is and will try to get back in the team.”

Maybe he needed more time to settle in, but he was the one who had taken the risk to come on loan. Possibly he had lost confidence. Celtic statistics analysis claimed that he had the poorest records of any of the defenders despite having played in the more successful periods of the season.

Regardless of the unsuccessful stint at Celtic, he got to experience an incredible time as Celtic completed the Treble-Treble, and he did play his (small) part so must be respected for that at least. However, reality had to dawn on his true valuation.

We wished him the best.

Post-Celtic

After Celtic, he moved to Italy to play for Sassuolo, for whom he went to on to become a first team player for many years.

[….]

Quotes

“I had a great time at Celtic. At the weekend we completed our season by winning the Scottish Cup Final to make it a treble. It was a great experience and due to my time in Scotland I have returned a better player and I also have winners’ medals from the league and the cup. Now I want to try and make the same impact with Dortmund.”
Toljan (May 2019)

Playing Career

Honours with Celtic

Pictures

• Player Pics

KDS

• First Thread (2019)

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