CELTIC BALIKWISHA BREAKTHROUGH: BELGIAN SOURCES CLAIM
- BY LIAM CARRIGAN
- 4 hours ago
- 2 min read
One of Celtic’s most protracted transfer saga’s of recent times may finally be nearing its end.
According to sources in Belgium this morning, Celtic have all but concluded a deal to sign long-term transfer target Michel-Ange Balikwisha, according to Belgian football news outlet Voetbalkrant.
In a report published last night, the Belgian football news site confirmed that Royal Antwerp’s sporting director Marc Overmars is keen to push the deal through as soon as possible.
Celtic Balikwisha Deal Could Be Completed Any Day Now
Like many clubs across Europe, Antwerp have some financial challenges to face this summer, and are in a position of having to sell before they can buy.
There is also the added complication of Balikwisha entering the final year of his contract and having already made it clear he does not intend to extend his stay with the Belgian Premier League side.
The Voetbalkrant report claims that a deal for Celtic to sign Balikwisha will be concluded as soon as the £17 million deal to sell Nicholas Kuhn to Como is finalized. Kuhn was pictured on a private jet with his agent yesterday, heading for Italy, indicating the deal is almost done.
A pacy winger, with an eye for goal, Balikwisha is exactly the kind of player Celtic need to bring in to replace the lost energy, dynamism and quality that a fully sharpened Nicholas Kuhn brought to the side.
He has had injury concerns in the past. However, it speaks to the players own strength of character that he refused to even discuss transfers this past January.
The player set such thoughts aside, believing that returning to his previously high performance levels for the team was more important. Reports from Belgium towards the end of last season suggest he did just that.
Balikwisha is a player Celtic have pursued for over a year. In the week when we finally confirm that we won’t be signing our other long term target Mathias Kvistgaarden, who is set to join Norwich City, it would be nice to Celtic finally get our other protracted transfer chase over the line.
The previously discussed fee with Antwerp was 5.5 million, which Celtic, allegedly considered to be too high. And, for a player in the final year of his contract, I’d say they probably have a point there.
Negotiations resumed when Antwerp indicated that they would be willing to drop this valuation to around £4.5 million.
However, the Belgian side may well have over-played their hand here, and it’s possible Celtic could end up getting the player for less than £4 million with a bit more haggling.
This poker game may have dragged on far too long for many fans’ liking, myself included. However, it is now a proverbial game where Celtic hold all the cards.