One of the biggest factors behind Celtic's struggles in recent times has been their poor recruitment. Contrary to popular belief, they have brought in plenty of players pretty much every season. The issue is that very few of them have proven themselves to be of the required quality. That is the reason why a team like Hearts, which has had to work within a much smaller budget, has been able to close down the gap.

As things stand, it looks like one of the worst signings that Celtic have made in recent times is none other than Michel-Ange Balikwisha.

Celtic had actually been linked with Balikwisha for over a year. Ultimately, they did sign him in the summer for a transfer fee believed to be in the region of £5 million. He has yet to show why.

Balikwisha has struggled to make any sort of an impact since joining Celtic. To be fair, his numbers were decent while at Royal Antwerp. He even appeared at multiple youth international levels for Belgium before turning out for DR Congo's senior national team.

At Celtic, he has never looked up to the grade though. In fact, he has not made a league appearance since late October.

He appeared in the first seven league games that he was available for, and has then been completely left out of the picture. Martin O'Neill has not even included him in the matchday squad in the Premiership since replacing Wilfried Nancy for a second stint as interim boss.

Throughout O'Neill's two spells as interim manager, Balikwisha has started just once. And that came against Auchinleck Tablot, who play in the sixth tier, in the Scottish Cup.

While speaking on The Celtic Way, O'Neill said regarding the situation of Balikwisha: "I do feel for him a little bit, because my job is not to please everyone here at the football club.

"Listen, to be perfectly honest, I don't think he's had a proper chance.

"He certainly hasn't had a proper chance under my time, because I thought there were other people that may be better equipped for this league at this minute.

"It might have been a different ball game if I'd had a pre-season, where I know what people can do in two or three weeks, finding out when you're with boys every single day under a bit of sun or something."

Of course, O'Neill's job is to get results out of the squad that he has been given to work with. And if he feels that Balikwisha is not ready for the Scottish league, then it is understandable for the manager to drop him.

Things can change very quickly in football. A new manager might have different ideas. But at the moment, it is hard to imagine that Balikwisha will have a long-term future at Celtic.

Perhaps it is just the style of the Scottish game, but it has never felt like he is cut out for the task at Celtic. Expect him to be moved on in the summer, whether it be on loan or permanently. The Hoops will surely be looking to recoup as much of that £5 million transfer fee as possible, but that will be a difficult task after the season he has had.

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