Celtic‘s Michel-Ange Balikwisha is on loan at Gent and is hopeful of leaving Martin O’Neill’s side permanently in 2027.
The forward had a disappointing spell since leaving Royal Antwerp for Celtic in August 2025. The Scottish club had failed to sign him in the previous two windows.
Brendan Rodgers was his main supporter at Celtic Park and handed him regular minutes until he left the club last October.
Celtic initially appointed O’Neill as Rodgers’ successor before Wilfried Nancy’s arrival in December 2025. They parted ways with the latter after losing six of the eight matches under his orders.
The Scottish Premiership reappointed O’Neill in January and he’s still in charge. These changes impact the DR Congo international’s minutes at the club.
Takes blame for failing at Celtic
Earlier this year, the 25-year-old had an opportunity to move to MLS on loan. However, the Celtic Park club blocked his exit, and he missed out on making it to the World Cup squad.
Michel-Ange Balikwisha has expressed his disappointment with Celtic for blocking the loan transfer.
Thursday’s edition of Het Nieuwsblad have an interview with the attacker, where he’s honest in accepting his failure to adapt to the needs of the Scottish football. Last season, he played 398 minutes from 14 matches for Celtic and 263 were under Brendan Rodgers.
“When I left Antwerp, Van Bommel told me I would be flying in Scotland. But it turned out I wasn’t physically ready for Celtic. It is four times as intense there as it is here,” he said.
“In my first match against Rangers, I wanted to ask to be substituted after just 10 minutes. It is sprint after sprint after sprint, even immediately after a throw-in. My thighs immediately caught fire. Every training session is like a match.”
“Once, Martin O’Neill forced the attackers to make extra runs with the ball. I was already knocked out, but after that, I was lying completely knocked out in the dressing room, stone dead. There was a teammate who thought he was going to die, really. He went to the hospital for a check-up. (laughs) That is why I still hit the gym here after a training session. To maintain that. If I want to move to a bigger league, I have to keep bringing maximum intensity.”
| Every Celtic signing 26/27 | Previous Club | Fee |
|---|---|---|
| Camilo Durán | Qarabağ | €5.50m |
| Kasper Høgh | Bodø/Glimt | €12.85m |
| Haissem Hassan | Spain Real Oviedo | €7m |
| Mika Baur | SC Paderborn | €6.3m |
| Oliver Sørensen | Parma | Loan |
| Sam Johnstone | Wolverhampton Wanderers | Loan |
| Shim Mheuka | Chelsea | Loan |
| Landon Emenalo | Chelsea | Loan |
| Joël van den Berg | PSV Eindhoven | €3.5m |
| Jordan Lotomba | Feyenoord | Free |
Aims to leave Celtic permanently
Since returning to Belgium, Michel-Ange Balikwisha has enjoyed regular minutes, scoring a goal from six matches so far.
Gent agreed to a purchase option with Martin O’Neill’s side. The Celtic owned player remains hopeful to extend his form in order to secure a permanent move to the Jupiler Pro League side.
“I want to win trophies here,” Balikwisha explained.
“If I perform, everyone wins. Myself, Rik De Mil who brought me to the top, Gent that can make money off me. I think that is the goal, too. Isn’t the purchase option €4m? Then Gent can exercise it and immediately resell me for fifteen to twenty million. Everyone happy.”
“We are commodities, and I have no trouble accepting that. As long as our work is rewarded. Even though money isn’t what I look at when I sign somewhere. It is whether I can play there. When I went to play football on Saturday mornings at ten o’clock as a kid, that was the only thing that mattered.”
