Boli Bolingoli has finally left Celtic on a permanent basis.
The club announced on Tuesday afternoon the defender has moved to Belgian side Mechelen.
Boli was signed under Neil Lennon and had an ok first season. The following campaign would be a disaster for Boli and Celtic. The pandemic hit and football as we know it was gone.
Empty stadiums and training ground matches with very little interaction between teammates and coaches at game time.
When the players were off duty, they were told to stay in the country and adhere to any of the lockdown rules. It would then transpire Boli made a short trip to Spain in between games. He would then come on as a substitute for the bhoys, the club not knowing what the Belgian had done.
Celtic were hammered for Boli’s indiscretion and had to play catch up due to games being postponed.
We’d see a massive shift in the way other clubs were dealt with during the lockdown football era that could suggest Celtic were overly targeted.
However, Boli gave the authorities and the media an open goal. His Celtic career never recovered.
A loan move to Turkey during the lockdown season would be in injury and a loan move to Russia last season was cancelled after war broke out in Europe.
The defender now has the chance to play first team football in his native Belgium.
Gone too soon.