Balikwisha adapting to life at Celtic and will become a top performer

It’s no secret that the Belgian has struggled to show his true talent since his £5 million move from Royal Antwerp at the end of August. But after a little reassurance from Brendan Rodgers combined with sorting out his living arrangements, the winger has proclaimed that he’s ready to find his best form which will prove why the club trailed him for so long.

Tellingly Michel-Ange conducted his interview on Celtic TV in French which tells us that there’s also a language barrier that will improve as he settles in and one thing Celtic does do well is provide English language lessons for  incoming players who don’t speak English. Some are better than others at learning a foreign language, even when they are immersed in it in a new country. Daizen for example hasn’t made too much progress in this regard and he’s been here for over four years!

Michel-Ange showed a brief glimpse of what he’s capable of in Sunday’s win over Motherwell as he made a major impact from the bench, producing an assist for Daizen Maeda’s crucial last gasp winner.

I for one have always had belief in the former Belgian under 21 international and with good reason. During his career in the Belgian top flight Michel-Ange has produced great numbers, numbers that most creative players would be proud to hold.

Naturally right footed, Michel-Ange like most right footers produces his most productive work using his favoured foot cutting in from the left hand side as his stats prove, but with Sebastian Tounekti excelling in that position, it looks like he will have to make do with a slot on the right hand side, but even on his least favoured position, the former Royal Antwerp man still boasts a decent end product.

In his career to date Michel Ange has played a total of 16 games as a right winger and boasts a return of eight goals and three assists, which is an impressive record, so i wouldn’t have any concerns going forward if Brendan decides to utilise his talent in that area.

He can also adapt to an attacking midfield role as the stats show that he has utilised in that position also, 19 times to be exact and he produced four goals and two assists so he has it in his locker to adapt to a number of roles if the need arises. One of his former coaches was saying during the week – as reported on The Celtic Star – that he reckons Michel-Ange’s best position is actually as a striker.  So there are option to play Balikwisha across  the front line.

I firmly believe that Michel-Ange will flourish in a Celtic jersey, and so should the rest of the Celtic support. Maybe if he’d been signed at the start of the transfer window and not at the end he could have had the chance to find his feet over the pre-season matches against the likes of Sporting, Como and Newcastle United.