Celtic pushing to sign “creative” £5m star

This is set to be just the start of an influx of Celtic signings this summer.

On Friday, Benjamin Nygren was unveiled as a Celtic player, arriving from Nordsjælland for a reported fee of £1.3m.

He is the Hoops’ third recruit of the summer so far, after Kieran Tierney and Ross Doohan, but many more will follow, with Brendan Rodgers actually pushing to sign another winger, who might actually be a bigger talent than Nygren.

Celtic’s search for new wingers

It could be all change in terms of Celtic’s wide attackers this summer.

First, Jota will be sidelined until at least Christmas, after rupturing his anterior cruciate ligament at Tannadice in April.

Meantime, Nicolas Kühn seems likely to leave the club during this window, given that RB Leipzig and Como are both currently battling for his signature, with reports outlining that the German is available for around £15m.

So, the arrival of Nygren alone is unlikely to be enough, hence why, according to a report by Dutch outlet Gazet van Antwerpen, via the Daily Record, Celtic’s ‘main focus’ is Michel-Ange Balikwisha of Royal Antwerp.

They claim that the Belgian club have ‘lowered their asking price’ from around £5m to around £4.5m, with Antwerp ‘in need of a financial boost’.

The 24-year-old has just one year remaining on his contract at Bosuilstadion, while the Reds also failed to qualify for Europe next season, defeated 2-1 in a play-off by Royal Charleroi back in May, leaving them far from in a strong negotiating position.

So, could Balikwisha become the eighth Belgian to play for Celtic, joining current midfielder Arne Engels, while following in the footsteps of the likes of Boli Bolingoli-Mbombo, Charly Musonda, Dedryck Boyata, Jason Denayer and Joos Valgaeren?

How Michel-Ange Balikwisha would improve Celtic

Balikwisha has actually just endured a pretty miserable year or so due to injury, first requiring knee surgery in January 2024, which actually scuppered his potential move to Glasgow back then, before seeing a miserly 149 minutes of action this season, before 9 March, due to a thigh issue.

Nevertheless, he did start each of Antwerp’s final ten Jupiler Pro League fixtures to end the campaign, scoring four goals, and has been a pivotal figure for the Reds in the past.

Back in 2022/23, just 21 at the time, Balikwisha scored ten goals in all competitions as Antwerp won their first Belgian top-flight title since 1957, also picking up the Coupe de Belgique, the youngster on target during the final victory over Mechelen, before netting again against the same opposition in the Supercoupe de Belgique victory a few months later.

On top of this, Antwerp then qualified for the Champions League group stages for the very first time too, with Balikwisha bagging the clincher during the play-off round victory over AEK Athens, before also scoring when Shakhtar Donetsk visited during the group phase themselves.

So, it is clear that the Belgian wide attacker possesses plenty of high-level experience, but let’s assess how he compares to, potential, future teammate Nygren.

As already alluded to, the season before last was used for Balikwisha’s statistics, given that he barely featured during the most recent campaign due to injury.

What the table outlines is that these two wingers are actually, stylistically, very different, with Nygren much more of a goal threat, hence why he scored more goals and registered a higher number of his shots on target.

Balikwisha, on the other hand, is a creator from wide, accumulating more assists and big chances created, as well as an exponentially greater number of crosses, which is possibly the most telling statistic.

Analyst Will Glavin agrees with this, describing the Belgian as “creative, direct​​​​​​​ and technically sharp”, while Jacek Kulig of Football Talent Scout notes that he operates best as an “inside forward”, highlighting his “pace, dribbling and finishing” as his strengths.

Elsewhere, analyst Ben Mattinson labels him “two-footed” and “capable of beating a defender either way”.

Thus, it is clear that Balikwisha is a high-quality talent that Celtic should do everything in their power to secure this summer.

When compared to Nygren, he is proven at Jupiler Pro League level which, according to Global Football Rankings, is the eighth-strongest division in the world, while the Danish Superligaen is a little bit lower at 13th.

Similarly, the Belgian boasts Champions League experience, something Nygren does not possess, having played in the Conference League, but no higher in terms of UEFA club competitions.

Thus, fitness permitting of course, this all suggests Balikwisha would be more likely to come in and have an immediate impact.

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