CELTIC defender Boli Bolingoli has completed a one-year loan move to Istanbul Basaksehir, the Turkish club have announced.

The Belgian defender moved to Parkhead last summer from Rapid Vienna but struggled to nail down a place in Neil Lennon's starting XI before the full-back broke Covid-19 restrictions to fly on an unuauthorised trip to Spain.

Bolingoli then played against Kilmarnock two days later without telling anyone about the flight, leading to two of Celtic's Premiership fixtures being postponed and effectively ending his time in Glasgow's east end.

English Championship side Middlesbrough and French duo Amiens and St Etienne are all believed to have registered an interest in the left-back this summer at one stage or another but it is Basaksehir who have won the race for Bolingoli's signature.

According to the club from the Turkish capital, a deal has been struck for Bolingoli to spend the 2020/21 campaign in Istanbul, with an option to buy the player for a predetermined figure at the end on the loan spell included in the agreement.

A statement on the club's website read: "We welcome Boli Bolingoli-Mbombo to our family and wish him success with our orange-navy blue jersey."