Celtic have real interest in late swoop for “superb” £7.6k-p/w ace, imagine him & Kuhn – opinion

Celtic have real interest in late swoop for “superb” £7.6k-p/w ace, imagine him & Kuhn – opinion

The January transfer market closes later this week, and Celtic are hoping to bolster their playing roster before the deadline.

Brendan Rodgers is on a mission to strengthen his alternatives across the pitch ahead of the second half of the season, as he seeks domestic success.

The Hoops have already been eliminated from Europe after finishing last in their Champions League group,

and they failed to win the League Cup after being defeated by Kilmarnock in August of last year.

Celtic now only have the chance to win the Scottish Cup and the Scottish Premiership between now and the conclusion of the season,

with any prospective incomings helping them in both competitions.

The Bhoys are apparently looking to reinforce the centre-forward position to give Kyogo Furuhashi and Hyeon-gyu Oh some competition.

Celtic’s Search for a Striker

The Hoops are looking to add another number nine to their roster,

and they believe to have turned their attention to the son of a former striker.

Italian journalist Fabrizio Romano stated to GIVEMESPORT that the Scottish giants are serious in signing Bologna marksman Sydney van Hooijdonk.

Celtic are one of several teams interested in making a late move for the 23-year-old ace,

who is the son of former Bhoys star Pierre van Hooijdonk,

ahead of the deadline this week as they hunt for a challenger for Kyogo and Oh.

According to the reporter, clubs from the Eredivisie and Portugal are also interested in the Dutch finisher,

so Rodgers may have stiff competition to sign him in the coming days.

Romano has indicated that van Hooijdonk wants to move on from Bologna in quest of regular game time as

he is poised to be behind Joshua Zirkzee and Santiago Castro for the second half of the season in the Serie A.

This has opened the way for Celtic to jump in to negotiate a deal for his services,

as the player is eager on leaving his club,

but it remains to be seen whether or not the Hoops will realize their desire with an actual move for the  forward.

At the present, there is no hint of talks between the two parties or a bid from the Scottish club,

indicating that a deal for the former NAC Breda starlet is imminent.

If Celtic sign him before the deadline,

Rodgers could find a perfect match for the club’s only signing of the month so far, Nicolas Kuhn.

Nicolas Kuhn’s creative genius

The Hoops swooped to recruit the 24-year-old winger from Austrian club Rapid Wien

on a five-and-a-half-year contract to enhance their attacking options.

He made his Hoops debut off the bench against Ross County last weekend,

but he was unable to exhibit his full potential.

Vs Ross County	Nicolas Kuhn (via dailysportnews)
Minutes played	26
Touches	18
Dribbles completed	One
Key passes	Zero
Shots	Zero

He made his Hoops debut off the bench against Ross County last weekend,

but he was unable to exhibit his full potential.

As shown in the table above, Kuhn did not get many touches on the ball and,

as a result, did not demonstrate his quality at the top of the pitch.

However, the left-footed wizard piqued the interest of Rapid Wien fans with his creative prowess in

the first part of the season and has the potential to be an outstanding Hoops creator.

Before joining Parkhead, the German wizard started 16 Austrian Bundesliga games this season,

scoring two goals and assisting five times.

Kuhn generated 11 ‘big chances’ and made 1.8 critical passes per match for Wien,

demonstrating his ability to break open opponent defences on a regular basis.

Daizen Maeda has been Celtic’s first-choice right winger this season, recording two assists,

four ‘big chances’ created, and 0.5 critical passes per game in 17 Premiership games.

This means that the former Bayern Munich prospect has considerably more potential as a creator for his teammates than the Japan international, assuming he can translate his Bundesliga form to the Scottish top division in the coming weeks and months.

The statistics that demonstrate why Celtic should sign van Hooijdonk.

Rodgers might find a lethal companion for Kuhn by signing van Hooijdonk before the deadline, as the Dutch striker could capitalise on opportunities in the box.

The 23-year-old ace has battled for game time in the Serie A this season, making only two starts, but his success for Heerenveen on loan in the Eredivisie suggests he has the ability to be a consistent scorer for Celtic.

He spent 18 months on loan in his home nation, where his goal-scoring ability stood out. The Hoops target scored six goals and assisted once in 13 league games in the second half of the 2021/22 season, missing only three ‘great opportunities’.

22/23 Eredivisie	Sydney van Hooijdonk (via dailysportnews)
Starts	30
Goals	16
Big chances missed	Ten
Assists	One
Sofascore rating	6.99

As shown in the table above, van Hooijdonk followed up his spectacular five months with an outstanding full season with Heerenveen in the Eredivisie.

The £7.6k-per-week jewel, whose form that season was described as “superb” by talent scout Jacek Kulig, demonstrated his ability to find the back of the goal on a regular basis.

He scored 22 goals in 43 league appearances, more than one every other start on average, and missed only 13 ‘great opportunities’ throughout that 18-month period.

This demonstrates that the Dutchman was not wasteful in front of the net, since he scored nine more goals than ‘great chances’ missed. Kyogo has wasted 12 ‘great opportunities’ and scored eight goals in 23 Premiership appearances this season.

These statistics reveal that the current Celtic striker has not taken advantage of the opportunities presented to him by his colleagues, implying that Kyogo is not the ideal striker to benefit from Kuhn’s creativity at this time.

Van Hooijdonk, on the other hand, could be a dangerous finisher off the 24-year-old winger’s crosses and passes if he can replicate his Eredivisie form in Scotland.

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