THE latest player to be linked with a move to Glasgow’s east end, Borussia Dortmund defender Jeremy Toljan, has sent Celtic fans scrambling to their keyboards to find out more about the 24-year old German.

The full back - who can play on either side of defence - is reportedly a loan target for Brendan Rodgers’ side and has been told by his parent club that he is free to move on loan until the end of the season.

We’ve taken a look at Toljan’s numbers in a bid to give Celtic fans a better understanding of what the defender could bring to Rodgers’ side, should the club be able to get the proposed deal over the line.

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Toljan joined Dortmund from Hoffenheim in the summer of 2017 but has failed to make much of an impression on the first team squad for the Bundesliga club this season. The 24-year-old featured during Dortmund’s pre-season friendlies, lining up against the likes of Liverpool, Manchester City and Benfica, but has found first-team opportunities hard to come by at Signal Iduna Park since.

A sole outing for Dortmund’s reserve side this campaign, who compete in the Germany’s fourth tier, has followed the German’s move but, so far at least, Toljan hasn’t managed to break into the first team. All data on the full back from this season is unrepresentative as a result; it’s difficult to read too much into performances in pre-season friendlies, so we’ll be going by Toljan’s numbers from the 2017/18 season where he featured a little more regularly for the Bundesliga leaders.

Toljan made a total of 23 appearances for Dortmund last season, featuring in both the Champions League and the Europa League, as well as domestically for his side. In almost half of these games - 11 - Toljan started on the left, highlighting the defender’s versatility, but the full back has spent the majority of his career on the right.

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Dortmund play a high-pressing, aggressive style of football and the two full backs are given a lot of responsibility as a result. More onus is placed in the defensive side of their game, of course, but the wide defenders are also tasked with contributing to attacking phases of play as well. This should encourage Rodgers, as although his system and Dortmund’s are different, there are similarities between the two styles and full backs are equally important in Rodgers’ setup.

Before we get into the stats, it’s worth quickly pointing out that Toljan has been playing in a higher standard of competition than Mikael Lustig, who he would presumably challenge for a place in Rodgers’ starting XI. A pinch of salt should be taken with Toljan’s numbers, then, as a direct comparison isn’t a perfect analysis. But it does give us an idea of what we could expect from the 24-year-old.

Lustig (3.32) actually manages more crosses per game than Toljan (2.91), and with a slightly higher degree of accuracy too; the Swede’s crosses are 8% more likely to find their intended target, in fact. Toljan averages twice as many dribbles as Lustig does during any given game, but the Celtic defender is again marginally more successful in this regard. The 32-year-old also manages slightly more touches in the box, and has a higher rate of shot assists too.

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Of course, it should be said that Lustig enjoys the advantage of playing for a Celtic team that regularly dominate possession and, as a result, has more opportunities to join his side’s attack. Lustig’s stats are marginally better at going forward, but there’s no reason to doubt that Toljan’s numbers would improve in this regard playing for a Celtic side that often brush aside opponents without breaking into top gear.

At the other end of the park, Toljan is unsurprisingly busier for Dortmund than Lustig is for Celtic. The German attempts more defensive duels, albeit with a lower success rate, but Lustig appears to have the edge in the air, attempting around three times as many headers and with a greater degree of success too.

Lustig is more effective at intercepting the ball than Toljan, but the Dortmund full back averages more clearances on average. While Toljan plays in a side where more is expected of him defensively, it’s also important to note that the German is facing a higher calibre of player week in, week out. Just like his attacking stats, we should expect to see an increase in Toljan’s defensive success rates should he move to the Premiership but as it stands, Lustig has the edge over the 24-year-old.