Celtic loan star ends up missing game in bizarre scenario

The Celtic player’s bad time since joining the club continued even away on loan as he missed a game for his new club in an absolutely bizarre scenario.

It’s been quite the week for some of Celtic’s players out on loan, including a player who missed a match due to flight issues, and a defender scoring his first goal in three years.

1. Marian Shved, Mechelen FC (Belgium)

First reported by the Daily Record, 23-year-old Ukrainian winger Marian Shved of Celtic missed out on his loan club’s 1-0 defeat to KV Oostende on Saturday.

Mechelen skipper Wouter Vrancken let the young player return to his naive Ukraine during the recent international break.

With his return flight being overbooked Shved was left to scramble back to Belgium via car, a 2500km trip, ultimately missing out on the club’s match over the weekend.

Having been with Celtic since January 2019, Marian has failed to break into Neil Lennon’s starting side having made only two appearances for the Hoops (with a goal in his debut match in European play against Nõmme Kalju FC). After signing with Celtic he was immediately loaned back to his former club Karpaty Lviv, where he had 15 goals in 26 appearances in 2019.

Yet to fully break in with his loan club either with just 24 minutes through three appearances, missing out on a match completely may further hinder his chances of finding some playing time. Hoops fans can only hope that he is able to garner some consistent playing time, but he is unlikely to return and break into the starting lineup any time soon behind the likes of James Forrest.

2. Jack Hendry, KV Oostende (Belgium)

Mechelen was unlucky on Saturday in their 1-0 defeat to KV Oostende, but another Celtic loanee managed to steal the show as Jack Hendry scored the match’s only goal late in stoppage time.

Hendry, a 25-year-old Scottish defender, managed to bag his first goal in three years in his debut match for his new loan club.

After being loaned out last season to Australian side Melbourne FC, Hendry made just two appearances before a knee injury cut his time short there.

Having made 27 appearances for Celtic since 2017, he failed to break into consistent playing time with the Hoops while being limited by injuries at times as well. He missed six matches for the club in 2018-2019 due to a knee injury, before being sidelined for almost four months with his most recent one in January.

Speaking after the game, Hendry displayed some emotions after scoring the stoppage-time winner:

"“It was my first game for nine months. I was out for four weeks after my knee operation and then football obviously stopped. So I had a lot of difficult months. To score the winning goal in injury time was a dream for me. It couldn’t have gone better. I knew I would get a chance during the game and I managed to finish it.”"

3. Vakoun Issouf Bayo, Toulouse (France)

The 23-year-old Ivorian striker moved to French side Toulouse FC last month on a year-long deal with an apparent option to buy included. Having joined Celtic in January 2019, Bayo showed much promise, with two goals in eight appearances for the Hoops, but being unable to break into consistent play under Neil Lennon.

A highly touted prospect, Bayo has already shown a flash of his talent with his new club. In his debut match two weeks ago, he bagged a brace in his side’s 5-3 loss to Grenoble Foot 38.

With two goals in his one appearance and another match for Toulouse set for Monday evening against Sochaux, Bayo could be one loan player that stands to shine outside of Glasgow this season.

4. Boli Bolingoli, Basaksehir (Turkey)

After notably breaking COVID restrictions last month with a trip to Spain and earning the ire of Neil Lennon and the Celtic fanbase, the 25-year-old left-back moved to Turkish club Istanbul Basaksehir on a year-long loan deal (with the option to purchase) this weekend.

Bolingoli, who joined Celtic July of last year, had made 15 appearances for the club, including the recent unfortunate 1-1 draw to Kilmarnock.

With a match against Hatayspor tonight, it is unlikely Bolingoli will see playtime for his new club until their match against Galatasaray this weekend.