Bangura earns Turkisk deal
bANGURA
Loan spells turned out to be controversial with his appearance for Elfsborg against Celtic in a Champions League qualifier closing the door on any hopes of reviving his hoops career.
Bangura joined Celtic in August 2011 in a £2m deal from AIK Solna but never posed any threat to the partnership of Gary Hooper and Anthony Stokes.
At the start of the 2012/13 season he returned to Solna on loan before another loan spell with Elfsborg at the start of the 2013 Swedish season.
During a brief period between those loans he did score for Celtic against Steaua Bucharest during a trip to Spain but was never likely to win a place in Lennon’s plans.
Bangura could make his debut for Istanbul BB on Saturday at home to Adanaspor.
Fellow Sierra Leone internationals Alfred Sankoh and Khalifa Jabbi also play in the division.
Istanbul BB are in second place in Second Division but play in the 76,000 capacity Olympic Stadium. Bangura has signed a two and a half year contract with the club.
During the January transfer window Georgios Samaras was linked with a move to Trabzonspor but no formal offer was ever put to Celtic or the player.
With Leigh Griffiths now at Celtic and Samaras out of contract in the summer the Greek internationalist is unlikely to be given much playing time before the World Cup.