£5million Belgian Player Explains Why He Rejected Celtic Move
There are a few players that Celtic have been linked with for quite some time now but unfortunately, the club have seemingly had a tough time landing a lot of their long-term transfer targets.
Of course, the fans are well aware of the Hoops' never-ending quest to sign Mathias Kvistgaarden from Brondby. They failed once again this January.
There does appear to be another player they missed out on though. That is Belgian youth international, Michel-Ange Balikwisha, who currently plays for Royal Antwerp.
It looks like Balikwisha decided to not to make the move to Celtic because he was still dealing with an injury and the timing was not ideal as a result of it.
According to The Herald, Balikwisha said about the situation: "Celtic's interest was concrete, but I chose to stay.
"Leaving with an injury was not ideal for me. I would rather take good care of myself so I could be ready for the play-offs.
"We will see in the summer transfer window."
Balikwisha was initially linked with a move to Celtic last summer and then in the recent winter transfer window once again. The move did not materialise either time though.
Celtic did ultimately sign a winger this winter, bringing back Jota from Rennes. The Portuguese winger has made a solid start to his second spell at Parkhead.
He scored in his second debut for Celtic, after coming on as a substitute against Motherwell. He followed that up with an assist against Dundee FC in his second game.
Jota did not make a goal contribution at the weekend against Raith Rovers, coming on as a substitute once again.
He is expected to be handed a start against Bayern Munich in midweek though as Daizen Maeda is going to be suspended for the first leg.
In his first spell at Celtic, Jota did score against Real Madrid from a free-kick. We need a repeat of those heroics.
_(1)_(1)-a8b9e3263c07ebedffea3eb09b7fe486.png "Sourav Mahanty")
Sourav, a seasoned sports journalist, holds a Master’s degree in English from Amity University, graduating in 2022. He has been a prominent contributor to FanSided since 2017, primarily covering Celtic, where he has built a strong online presence over the years. His love for the game extends beyond Celtic, having also covered renowned soccer teams such as Manchester United, Real Madrid, Newcastle United, FC Barcelona, and Chelsea. In addition to his passion for soccer, Sourav is an avid basketball enthusiast. He has written extensively about NBA teams like the Toronto Raptors, Philadelphia 76ers, Miami Heat, and Chicago Bulls.