Exactly why ‘struggling’ Celtic transfer target Michel-Ange Balikwisha missed Antwerp training

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It’s been all about wingers for Celtic this summer.

Benjamin Nygren joined for £2m from FC Nordsjælland and he is being seen as the replacement for Como-bound Nicolas Kuhn, who is on the verge of a £17.2m switch.

Celtic have also been heavily linked with Michel-Ange Balikwisha, and while talks between the Hoops and Royal Antwerp are continuing, they seem to be dragging on.

Antwerp need to sell, however, given their financial situation. And it could mean Celtic nab Balikwisha for less than £5m.

• READ MORE: Open Goal panel say it’s ‘so strange’ what Brendan Rodgers is saying about Celtic’s summer signing

Celtic target Balikwisha ‘struggling’ for fitness

Antwerp are in Austria for their pre-season training camp and most of the first-team squad have been undergoing high intensity sessions.

But Balikwisha is not taking part with the rest of his teammates. He’s been asked to train alone for now, which raised plenty of Celtic eyebrows yesterday.

However, Antwerp boss Stef Wils explained that Balikwisha is not quite at the fitness level to take part in the gruelling training sessions, so is getting up to speed on his own.

Wils told GVA: “They’re struggling with classic preparation ailments. After three and a half weeks of inactivity, we’ve trained hard these past few days.

“I’d rather have these guys do something different for a day and get back on track, rather than pushing them to their limits.”

Isak Jansson pursuit falls by the wayside

Celtic can fully focus their attention on pursuing Bailkwisha this summer, the man who has scored 29 goals in 141 games for Antwerp.

That’s because they fell out of the running to recruit Rapid Wien’s winger Isak Jansson, who was pulled from the club’s training camp yesterday.

Ligue 1 side Nice presented a lucrative bid of around £8.6m for Jansson, with Celtic delivering a lowball offer of between €2-3m to start with.

Meanwhile, striker Shin Yamada is on the verge of completing a move to the Bhoys from Japanese side Kawasaki Frontale.