Celtic head coach Brendan Rodgers has been backed in the market this summer as the club have brought in six new signings during the transfer window.
Who have Celtic signed this summer?
The Hoops boss brought in Norwegian maestro Odin Thiago Holm and Australia international Marco Tilio as his first two additions of his second stint in charge.
He has since been able to sign Hyeok-kyu Kwon, Hyun-jun Yang, and Maik Nawrocki to bolster his options in midfield and in defence.
The Bhoys then completed their sixth piece of incoming business as Swedish ace Gustaf Lagerbielke was officially confirmed on Wednesday night, but there could be more to come from the Scottish giants after the Swedish defender's deal is completed.
Celtic were recently touted with an interest in Nantes left-back Quentin Merlin and this comes after links to former Parkhead star Kieran Tierney earlier this summer.
How good is Quentin Merlin?
The French defender, who has been valued at a minimum fee of €8m (£6.8m), is an excellent attacking full-back who could be a dream alternative to the Arsenal battler.
Whilst signing the Hoops academy graduate, who won 11 domestic trophies with the club, would be an exciting and sentimental piece of business, Tierney would be an expensive addition on loan due to his £120k-per-week wages.
Whereas, Merlin is reportedly on £7.7k-per-week at Nantes and would come in on a permanent basis, which means that Celtic would have a player with long-term potential – at the age of 21 – instead of only having him for one year, as would have been the case with the Scotsman.
Football FanCast recently published an article that explained why the France U21 international could be an upgrade on current Hoops left-back Greg Taylor, but would he be a better option than Tierney?
Their respective form for Nantes and Arsenal last season suggests that the talented youngster would offer more at both ends of the pitch.
Merlin averaged a Sofascore rating of 6.92 across 24 Ligue 1 outings and caught the eye with seven 'big chances' created and 2.3 tackles and interceptions per match.
Tierney, meanwhile, averaged a Sofascore rating of 6.65 over 27 Premier League games for the Gunners as he made 1.1 tackles and interceptions per clash and failed to create a single 'big chance' for his teammates.
The Scotland international also lost 75% of his aerial duels and only made 0.1 key passes per match for the English giants, whereas Merlin came out on top in 52% of his headed contests and created 1.5 chances per appearance.
These statistics suggest that the Nantes star, who was once described as a "serious talent" by scout Jacek Kulig, could provide more creativity than Tierney from left-back by bombing on to produce passes and crosses into the box for the attackers to work with.
Merlin could also offer more defensive nous with his ability to consistently win possession back for his side with interventions to cut out opposition attacks, to go along with his superior aerial prowess, which is why he could be a dream alternative to Tierney for Rodgers.
