How Bolasie can recreate Sinclair’s success and resurrect his career at Celtic

Yannick Bolasie is reportedly on Celtic’s radar as Neil Lennon looks to strengthen his squad before next month’s transfer deadline, so could the 30-year-old resurrect his career at Parkhead in the same way Scott Sinclair did?

Though Sinclair came through the ranks at Chelsea while Bolasie was on Rushden and Diamonds’ books as a teenager, when you look at the pair’s respective careers, a similar trend has appeared.

Both have struggled following big individual moves, with Sinclair joining Manchester City after an impressive spell with Swansea City and Bolasie moving to Everton for £25million after catching the eye at Crystal Palace.

Sinclair made just 19 appearances for City in his three-year stint at the Etihad, failing to score or register an assist, and the winger was then loaned out to West Brom and Aston Villa respectively.

Bolasie was also loaned to Villa after failing to impress in his 32 appearances for Everton, and could now be set to join Celtic one-year on from his spell with Villa – similarly to Sinclair who moved to Parkhead following one solitary season as a permanent player at Villa Park.

Furthermore, both also had spells with Plymouth Argyle, though Bolasie was with the Pilgrims for much longer than the former Chelsea man.

So with their careers following such a similar pattern, could Bolasie now follow in Sinclair’s footsteps by moving to Celtic and resurrecting his career at Parkhead?

read celtic verdict

Looking at stats on Transfermarkt, Bolasie can certainly take inspiration from Sinclair’s Celtic move when it comes to how he can establish himself as a dangerous attacking threat once again at Parkhead.

Prior to his move to Celtic, Sinclair had scored just 56 and assisted only 18 goals in 258 career games in total. That’s a contribution of a goal or an assist every 3.4 games – not a dreadful record, but a move to Celtic certainly benefitted the winger.

In his three season’s with the Hoops so far, the 30-year-old has scored 64 times and created 34 assists in 164 appearances, which is a goal or an assist every 1.6 games –  a drastic improvement.

Bolasie’s goalscoring record of 38 strikes and 50 assists in 352 career appearances means he has scored or assisted a goal every four games, which again is not a dreadful record.

But should he look at how much Sinclair benefitted from a move to Parkhead, it could certainly provide Bolasie with inspiration to pursue a move to Celtic and recreate Sinclair’s success.