£2m captain now stuck in relegation battle after Celtic opted not to sign him

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For supporters of FC Volendam, the return to fitness of star centre-half Xavier Mbuyamba could hardly have come any quicker. 

The former Chelsea and Barcelona youngster missed nearly three months of Eredivisie action through injury and illness on the other side of Christmas, only returning at the start of December with his club mired in the relegation battle. 

“I wanted to help the team,” a relieved Xavier Mbuyamba sighed to Limburger shortly after his long-awaited comeback. “But if that’s not allowed, it’s very frustrating.” 

If Volendam had hoped that the return of their defensive kingpin would bring about an immediate upturn in results, however, they were very much mistaken. The rot has set in now, the damp spreading and the mould seeping into the foundations. Volendam have lost three of their four Eredivisie games with Mbuyamba back in the team, the former Dutch under 21 international captaining them to a dreadful 5-0 home defeat to newly-promoted PEC Zwolle. 

Celtic were keen on Xavier Mbuyamba

While Mbuyamba was always likely to need some time to get up to speed, these are certainly not the performances of a man ready to make the step up to a club of the size and stature of Celtic, Sky Sports reporting that The Hoops showed an interest (again) in the £2 million-rated centre-half last summer, perhaps in the hope of another Virgil van Dijk-style Eredivisie success story. 

Celtic ended up putting their faith in Maik Nawrocki and Gustaf Lagerbielke instead. And, while the jury is certainly still out on both of those, it is difficult to make the argument that Mbuyamba – at least based on current evidence – would have been a better addition to Brendan Rodgers’ backline. 

“From what I’ve heard before, he was not quite at the level to be considered a priority (for Celtic),” reporter Dean Jones told GiveMeSport a few months back.

With Lagerbielke’s future uncertain – the Swede spoke openly last week about his desire to move to Italy – and with Cameron Carter-Vickers attracting Premier League interest, Celtic may once again be in the market for a centre-half in 2024. 

And Mbuyamba might still be in contention by the time the summer runs around. But with Volendam picking up just 12 points so far – three wins out of a possible 19 – captaining a team to relegation during a season interrupted by injury issues means he’s unlikely not be operating from a position of strength when the window opens again.