A Celtic attacker has been scolded as being a "waste of money" as football pundit Hugh Keevins didn't hold back his thoughts on a signing.
The signing he was speaking about was that of Michael-Ange Balikwisha, who has had a horrendous debut season for the Celts since signing in the summer.
On Clyde 1, Keevins said:
"[Celtic] bought Michel-Ange Balikwisha, who wasn’t even on the bench against Falkirk. He has been a £5 million waste of money."
He also spoke about the signings of Joel Mvuka and Junior Adamu:
"They need to see if Joel Mvuka will be the answer. But it’s haphazard with Celtic, as I say, Balikwisha is an absolute waste of money. Not even on the bench when Celtic are trying to claw back a deficit with regard to Hearts. Sebastian Tounekti, Balikwisha, and Yang, they aren’t, for me, up to the job on a long-term basis. We will see if Joel Mvuka and Junior Adamu can do what Tomas Cvancara threatens to do up front. But that remains to be seen."
Balikwisha was signed from Royal Antwerp in the summer of 2025 for a fee of £5 million. The player is contracted to the club on a five-year deal.
Harsh, but not entirely wrong
There is no doubt that Keevin's words are harsh, but they also aren't entirely wrong.
Balikwisha has been an unused substitute for the Europa League games against Bologna and FC Utrecht, which Martin O'Neill took charge of. The last time he featured was in Celtic's 3-0 loss to Roma when Wilfried Nancy was at the helm.
Since Nancy's departure, he has not been named in the squad for league matches, and has played just over 12 games in the Hoops. That has been enough time for fans to make their conclusion that the player simply isn't up for the job.
The player has failed to score and has only registered one assist. He has simply not shown that he deserves more minutes, and Keevins pointed out in the past that the winger almost looked "intimidated" in a Celtic shirt.
For a fee of £5 million, the player should be giving more. It seemed like a decent signing at the time, and no one was outraged by the money spent, but now, it looks like one of the most disastrous signings the Celts have ever made.
Now, it seems like Balikwisha won't get a chance in the squad with new signings coming in like Joel Mvuka and Junior Adamu, who can both play in his position. If they hit the ground running, there is a good chance that the club will try to move Balikwisha on in the summer, likely losing a lot of money in the process.
A lot of fans would be content never to see the DR Congo international again. He simply doesn't have what it takes to play at a club like Celtic, and his performances have been nothing short of utterly embarrassing.