Celtic centre-back Christopher Jullien is no closer to making a return to first team action.

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That's according to a claim made by Kieran Devlin, with The Athletic journalist revealing in a recent Q&A that, after pushing back the 28-year-old's predicted return date a number of times already, the club are no longer putting a timeframe on exactly when they believe the former France under-20 international will be back in action.

Devlin added that Jullien's recovery from the injury he suffered in December 2020 has gone extremely poorly, also suggesting that he is none the wiser as to when the centre-back could potentially step back onto the Parkhead pitch.

In response to a fan asking for an update on the defender, the journalist said: "Return date kept getting pushed back and pushed back, and now there's no estimated return date anymore. Think the club just didn't want to put a date on it anymore, so [I'm] uncertain when he might be back. His recovery from the injury last December has just gone really, really poorly."

Postecoglou will be fuming

With Celtic's run of bad luck concerning injuries seemingly never-ending since Ange Postecoglou's arrival at the club, the news that Jullien appears no closer to making a return to action will undoubtedly have left the 56-year-old fuming.

Indeed, with centre-back duo Stephen Welsh and Carl Starfelt both spending time on the sidelines due to knocks this season, Postecoglou would have very much enjoyed being able to call upon a player of Jullien's ability as, prior to picking up his injury last year, the 28-year-old was in exceptional form for the Hoops.

Over his nine Premiership fixtures in Celtic's 2020/21 campaign, the £4.95m-rated Frenchman helped his side to keep five clean sheets, scored one goal and registered one assist, as well as making 1.2 interceptions, 1.2 tackles and 3.6 clearances and winning 6.9 duels per game.

These returns saw the £20k-per-week defender average a SofaScore match rating of 7.43, ranking him as the club's second-best performer in the league last season.

However, with Devlin suggesting that the Frenchman is still some way off being ready for a return to first team football, Postecoglou has no other choice but to continue getting by without the centre-back, whose return to action is undoubtedly a case of the sooner the better for the Bhoys.

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