Boli's A Bhoy

New signing explains why you can’t say no to a club like Celtic

- Joe Donnelly

BOLI Bolingoli-Mbombo comes from good stock. His brother, Emeraude, plays for Belgian side, SC Eendracht Aalst, while his cousins, Jordan and Romelu Lukaku, play for Lazio and Manchester United respectively.

By committing the next four years of his career to Paradise, the 24-year-old defender views his latest move with similar prestige, and can’t wait to hit the ground running under Neil Lennon.

The pacey Belgian joins from Rapid Vienna, and now swaps the white and green stripes of Rapid for the green and white Hoops of Celtic. Interestingly, Bolingoli made his debut for the top-flight Austrian outfit in a 2017 pre-season friendly against Celtic, and it was then that he first sampled the club’s impassioned support.

Now, two years on, his decision to join the Treble Treble winners was an easy one, and he targets more success and his own slice of history at the undisputed Scottish champions.

“It feels great to have signed for Celtic,” he said. “It feels amazing, actually, to be part of the Celtic Family. I’m happy to be here at this club, and hopefully I can help win more titles and trophies. This club wants to continue breaking records, and hopefully we can do that in the future together.

“I heard last week that the club were interested in me. They contacted my agent, and I said yes immediately. You can’t say no to a club like Celtic.