Celtic sign Moroccan left-back on loan as Maloney joins Wigan

Capped 40 times by Morocco, El Kaddouri has joined Celtic until January with the Parkhead club having an option to sign him on a permanent basis at the end of the loan period.

But the 30-year-old will not be able to play for Celtic in the Europa League, should the Scottish Cup winners be reinstated to the tournament later this week when Uefa’s Control and Disciplinary Body rule on whether Sion contravened player eligibility rules in their 3-1 aggregate play-off round victory against Lennon’s men last month.

El Kaddouri played for Dynamo Kiev in their Champions League third qualifying round tie against Rubin Kazan at the start of the season, with his parent club’s subsequent progress to the group stage of the Europa League ruling him out of playing for another team in the tournament.

Celtic saw mooted loan moves for two other left-backs, Manchester City’s Wayne Bridge and Herita Ilunga of West Ham United, both peter out yesterday before clinching the El Kaddouri deal. He is a vastly experienced player, having been at Dynamo Kiev since 2002, winning three Ukrainian League titles and making 45 appearances in the Champions League and Europa League. El Kaddouri became Celtic’s sixth recruit of the summer transfer window, following the arrivals of Kelvin Wilson, Adam Matthews, Victor Wanyama, Fraser Forster and Mohamed Bangura.

Maloney, meanwhile, completed a deadline-day move to the English Premier League for the second time in his career when he joined Wigan for a fee of around £800,000.

The 28-year-old Scotland international forward last night signed a two-year contract at the DW Stadium, with a further one-year option, after passing a medical. It will be Maloney’s second stint in the top flight of English football, having previously spent a largely unfulfilling 18 months at Aston Villa.

Despite being highly regarded by Celtic manager Lennon, who appointed him captain for a short spell last season when Scott Brown was sidelined by injury, Maloney found himself surplus to requirements in the current campaign.

Celtic’s £2.2 million recruitment of Sierra Leone international striker Bangura from AIK Stockholm on Tuesday indicated that Maloney would be further down the pecking order at the club and he was happy to become Wigan manager Robert Martinez’s latest acquisition from Scottish football. “As soon as I found out about the move I got excited,” said Maloney last night. “The gaffer likes to play the right way and there’s a tremendous squad here full of great potential.

“I need to focus on winning a place in the team and doing the best I can for the team. I want to thank everyone at Celtic which has been my life for so long now, and especially all the fans. But I’ve got an exciting challenge now