Bolingoli seals exit to Turkey
SHAMED Celtic star Boli Bolingoli’s Parkhead exile was finally ended last night when he moved to Turkey.
Sportsmail first revealed last week that the Belgian defender had been offered an escape route on a season-long loan to Istanbul Basaksehir. And Bolingoli has now taken up that option, with his Celtic career as good as over since he breached strict coronavirus rules by flying to Spain without informing the club. Failing to quarantine on his return, he then played in a game against Kilmarnock — and the Scottish champions subsequently had two top-flight matches postponed. Bolingoli
was handed a three-match ban by the SFA and heavily fined by Celtic, whose manager Neil Lennon said it would be ‘very difficult’ for the 25-year-old to be accepted again at Parkhead. On Saturday, James Forrest played left wing-back in a thumping 5-0 win at Ross County. Now Celtic are poised to step up their pursuit of Charlton Athletic’s Alfie Doughty. They were knocked back in their previous attempt to land the 20-year-old, whose boss Lee Bowyer is desperate for him to remain at the Addicks. ‘We did turn down an offer from Celtic,’ Bowyer said last week. ‘I would advise Alfie to sign another deal and do a full season with us. ‘He only came into the side at a stage later on last season. He did well. He gets himself into great positions but it is his end product that he has to work on. ‘If he stays with us for another season he will improve more, because he has improved lots since he has been with us. ‘So I think he should stay, sign and do a full season with us — improve more and then see what is on the table for him.’