Boli Bolingoli-Mbombo will use Celtic as a stepping stone to the English Premier League, according to Rapid Vienna's sporting director.
The left-back completed a switch to the Premiership champions earlier this month in a £3million deal.
But Zoran Barisic insists he should be playing in one of Europe's top five leagues - and will use Celtic as a stepping stone to get there.
Rapid manager Dietmar Kuhbauer has already complained bitterly about the loss of Bolingoli and stressed he would be impossible to replace.
Now the club's sporting director has also waded in by predicting the defender will soon be playing at a higher level than the Scottish Premiership.
Barisic said: "Actually, I have no doubt that Boli is ready for the a club in one of the top five leagues in Europe, but he chose to go to Scotland.
"It does mean that he's closer to the English Premier League which is where he will end up.
"So we had to let him go unfortunately and he's proving to be very difficult to replace."
