Belgium international Brandon Mechele could have replaced Virgil van Dijk at Celtic but felt he ‘wasn’t ready’ to join the Scottish Premiership champions.
When Virgil Van Dijk completed his protracted £12 million move to Southampton in the summer of 2015, a Celtic side when under the stewardship of Ronny Deila shifted their focus to Belgium’s Jupiler League in pursuit of a replacement.
But Brandon Mechele, despite having two seasons of consistent first-team football under his belt, opted to stay put at Club Brugge, telling De Krant van West-Vlaanderen that Celtic’s interest simply came about at the wrong time.
Celtic wanted Brandon Mechele to replace Van Dijk
“That Celtic and Hamburg ever showed interest? I don’t doubt that,” explains Mechele, who ironically now plays his football under Deila at Club Brugge. “(But) I wasn’t ready for that at the time. A few years later, there were more doubts when Bologna showed up.
“But in the meantime, I have said more than once that I would prefer to stay at Club for the rest of my career.”
Now 31 and having spent the entirety of his professional life in blue-and-black stripes, Mechele looks well placed to achieve that particular ambition. The three-time Belgium international is closing in on his 400th appearance in Club Brugge colours. A sixth Jupiler League title appears to be off the cards for the time being, however, with Union Saint-Gilloise cruising ten points clear at the top of the domestic table.
Hoops drop points at Aberdeen despite Nicolas Kuhn impact
According to reports, Celtic were ready to pay £3 million to bring Mechele to Glasgow. That is an identical fee to the one The Hoops invested in Nicolas Kuhn last month, the former Rapid Vienna winger making a flying start to his Celtic career when cancelling out Bojan Miovski’s opener during Saturday’s 1-1 draw at Aberdeen.
Kuhn, once of Bayern Munich, Ajax and RB Leipzig, was joined at Celtic by the Norwich City loanee Adam Idah on deadline day.
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