Oliver Birch 
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Kristoffer Ajer and Christopher Jullien have both been ranked inside the top 10 best defenders in Scotland, but the latter is slightly lower than you’d expect.
The Daily Record are putting a piece together on the top 50 players in Scotland, and former Celtic defender Jim Duffy helped them rank the top 10 defenders.
The now Dumbarton manager ranked Ajer as the best defender in Scotland, praising the 21-year-old’s ability before suggesting that he is set for a move “down south.”
The big Celtic defender has improved in all aspects of his game, defensively and also going forward on the ball. I would also say there is still a lot more to come from the big Norwegian.
He has been Celtic’s best defender and has also stepped up in the big European games. He was immense against Lazio in the Europa League and shows the levels he can get to.
I would have to say Ajer would be my pick of the bunch. He is only 21 and you could see him making a big-money down south further down the line.
Duffy completed his top three by naming Aberdeen’s Andrew Considine at number two, and Rangers’ James Tavernier at three.
Incredibly, Jullien was all the way down in eighth behind the likes of Scott McKenna and Connor Goldson, though Duffy did admit he has not seen much of the Frenchman.
I haven’t seen enough of Julien to really judge him. He is also still finding his feet at Celtic. He is building a solid partnership with Kristoffer Ajer and it looks promising. He still needs to add a bit of consistency to his game.
I have seen have some strong, strong games but when I was at Livingston the other week and Lyndon Dykes gave him a torrid time. These are the games you need to learn from but he is another who is big, strong, athletic and good on the ball. He will only get better.
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Although Duffy admits to not having seen much of Jullien this season, the Frenchman has arguably been better than Ajer at times this season.
The Livingstone game aside, Jullien has been outstanding and has marshalled the likes of Alfredo Morelos and Sam Cosgrove expertly in the league, whilst also not giving Ciro Immobile a sniff at Parkhead last month, before showing him how it’s done with his late headed goal.
