The Celtic left-back didn’t start his career as a defender.
It may not be surprising given his pace and attacking ambition, but the Belgian actually started his career as a left winger, tasked primarily with creating assists and scoring goals at the other end of the pitch.
When at Club Brugge, he was converted into a defender, which is where he primarily played when at Rapid Vienna.
Signed as a left-back by Neil Lennon, Bolingoli admits he is still not the finished product.
However he is determined to improve.
As quoted by The Scottish Sun, he said: “I’ve been working on my defending. Even when I was at Rapid Vienna I was working on that.
“I’m a born offensive player, but I was changed to a left-back and I feel I’m progressing as a player in that position.
“I started as a left winger, but the coach who converted me was Juan Carlos Garrido at Brugge.
“When I went up to the first team, the first game I played was as a left winger — then he told me my career as a left winger was over! After that I started playing as a left-back.”
Can he become a Celtic all-rounder?
Bolingoli’s initial appearances in a Hoops shirt were certainly interesting. He loved to get forward and make space for himself in the opposition’s third of the pitch.
However, it did leave massive gaps at the other end of the pitch.
Since then Lennon has definitely added a bit of discipline to his game and it’s allowed him to embrace the defensive side of the game. That was most apparent in the big derby victory at Ibrox.
Becoming that all-rounder is critical if he’s to emulate the kind of success Kieran Tierney enjoyed at the club.
Right now he’s on the right track and working further with Lennon, John Kennedy and the rest of the Celtic coaches will surely ensure he learns even more over the comings months and years.
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