Sebastian Tounekti at Rugby Park, Kilmarnock v Celtic, 14 September 2025. Photo Vagelis Georgariou (The Celtic Star)
Q: Last week Sebastian Tounekti had an explosive debut, what do you make of Michel-Ange Balikwisha and his impact so far? He played left side first week and on the right last week. How will his progression go?
Brendan Rodgers: “Yeah, to be fair, that’s on me. The boy’s a left-sided player. He’s a really technically gifted player. He has great footballing qualities. His best side is on the left side. But he’s played in other positions. He’s played on the right-hand side previously in his career. He’s played as a 10. He’s played as an eight. So he’s played across that front line. I wanted to see him on that right side. But there’s no doubt his best position is from the left.
Michel-Ange Balikwisha at Rugby Park, Kilmarnock v Celtic, 14 September 2025. Photo Vagelis Georgariou (The Celtic Star)
And even if Sebastian is to play there and he sits out a game or whatever else, we still need two really impactful wingers that can play. You know, we thought Daizen Maeda was going. So we needed to make sure we were covered. Obviously, we’re not able to get what we want on the right side. So I wanted to try him, and like I say, we’re in this process of finding out for players because they’re just in the door. But there’s no doubt he’s much more comfortable on the left side.”
Q: Daizen Maeda showed you can’t question his commitment for his performance on Sunday. If there was any chat about, you know, his mind being elsewhere, you could put that to bed?
Brendan Rodgers: “I think it’s probably been a difficult period for him. He doesn’t let out a lot of emotion, but I think you see in Daizen the integrity of what he brings to the team and his own game and what it brings. So that was a brilliant goal. You know, the movement, any former strikers or strikers watching that will have seen his movement. There’s other areas of his game that are different to other strikers. But he scores goals, and his movement and the cross in was was very, very good and he gets his goals. So I just think that whilst he’s here, he’s a type of player, especially as we move through the season. He’s very honest to the game, and I think he’s that type of player that it will be very hard for him not to give 100%.”
