Scottish Premiership champions Celtic reportedly wanted to sign Josh Maja from Sunderland before he moved to Ligue 1 with Bordeaux.
Maybe Josh Maja should have given serious thought to joining Celtic before he swapped Sunderland for Bordeaux during the January transfer window.
During Brendan Rodgers’ time at Parkhead, young talents like Kieran Tierney, James Forrest and Callum McGregor have come from nowhere to be some of the league’s best players, winning plenty of trophies along the way.
Moussa Dembele, meanwhile, moved to Champions League Lyon for £19.7 million, two years after joining the Hoops for just £500,000 (BBC). Celtic might just have been the perfect destination for a 21-year-old striker like Maja looking to make the next step, as reported by the Chronicle.
Instead, however, he made the surprise decision to join Bordeaux instead, telling France 24 that a move to France would likely result in more regular game-time and give him an opportunity to put his name out there.
It might. But it is also fair to say Maja has not made a flying start to life in Ligue 1. He has started just twice in Bordeaux’s four games since his arrival, and he was subbed off at half time in the goalless draw with Guingamp on Wednesday night.
Is Bordeaux, a club that has lurched from disappointment to crisis in recent seasons, slipping into the lower reaches of mid-table with no shortage of managerial upheaval, really the right club for a player like Maja to hone his trade?
Celtic always looked like a better option.
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