Michel–Ange Balikwisha is said to be on the verge of a move to Celtic and he’s a player that will instantly improve our starting XI, that you can count on…
Michel-Ange Balikwisha of Royal Antwerp is tackled by Jules Kounde of Barcelona during the UEFA Champions League Group H match between FC Barcelona and Royal Antwerp at Estadi Olimpic Lluis Companys on September 19, 2023 in Barcelona, Spain. (Photo by Alex Caparros/Getty Images)
Losing Nicolas Kuhn to Como was a huge blow due to his goal contributions, but along the recent signing of Benjamin Nygren, the Belgian winger will add goals and assists to our side, and the stats well and truly back that claim up.
The former Standard Liege and Belgium under 21 international missed a chunk of last season through injury, but his overall contribution to not just Antwerp but his former clubs have been impressive.
During his career in Belgium, Balikwisha has registered 59 goal contributions in 181 appearances to date in the Belgian pro-league, 38 of which were goals and 21 assists. Not to mention his natural ability and great turn of pace which makes him a great fit in a Brendan Rodgers side.
Michel-Ange Balikwisha and Arbnor Muja of Royal Antwerp look on prior to the UEFA Champions League match between Shakhtar Donetsk and Royal Antwerp at Volksparkstadion on November 28, 2023 in Hamburg, Germany. (Photo by Stuart Franklin/Getty Images)
In the case of Benjamin Nygren it’s pretty much the same with 43 goal contributions in 108 games with Danish Superliga side Nordsjaelland. 38 of those being goals and 8 assists, as well as 2 goals in 4 appearances for the Swedish national side.
Celtic’s new signing Benjamin Nygren at Celtic Park. Photo Celtic FC
Benji also boasted a terrific record in the Dutch top flight with Heerenveen registering 13 goal contributions in just 51 matches.
Kieran Tierney, Photo Celtic FC
Both players had similar numbers to Kuhn before his arrival in Glasgow, and it goes without saying that like Nicolas both will only enhance the attacking threat in our starting XI as indeed with Kieran Tierney and we know all about him and what he’ll bring to the Celtic first pick team this season.
Just an Ordinary Bhoy
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I’ve watched the videos of Balikwisha and I’m not impressed. He looks like an average player, not great, just like Engels and Idah. We need top drawer players in the team to improve the quality and Balikwisha is not one of them.
To say Engels,Idah are average nonsenses they are young players with great potential like others that we gave turned into 8 figure players Tierney will bring Idah plenty of chances from the left just like the right Nygren is a International with a good goal scoring record and assists you have to be realistic are you really a football supporter or just a clum sad person if your a Cektic supporter I doubt enjoy it yiu may still be hurting from cup final good on Aberdeen payed for penalty shoot out and got it
martin your absolutely right mate but if its youtube then yes he looked average then again youtube can be very misleading imo
How can anybody tell what type of player he is from clips from u tube like watching game on a small tv screen you dont see the movement off the ball that gives space to other players naw really Utube
A really good player shows though on YouTube, despite selective clips. A Henrik Larsson, for example, would shine on YouTube, as would Kyogo in his heyday. So yes, YouTube doesn’t tell the whole story but it sure gives you a feel for a player and Balikwisha is poor. He’s a cheap option for Celtic because the Board have decided that no serious money will be spent this window. Just look at the players the club are brining in – Inamura, Yamada (who had a goal drought last season), Balikwisha, who is not wanted by any other club.
All the decent players linked to Celtic have been snapped up already because that Board will not spend big to improve the quality of the squad. As for Engels and Idah, some may think they’re projects who’ll come good but I’ve seen enough of them to believe that they will never be more than average.
If Celtic end this transfer window without forking the money for a few seriously good players, then 2025/26 is going to be a really bad season. That’s my assessment from the cr*p they’re buying in and the quality they’ve lost. Hope I’m wrong but I have a very bad feeling about what’s happening right now.