Newspaper says “prolific” ace is certain to move this month – and they think he’s joining Celtic

Newspaper says “prolific” ace is certain to move this month – and they think he’s joining Celtic

This month, Celtic is receiving interest from Serie A team Bologna for one of its young players,

18-year-old midfielder Rocco Vata. Amidst a ‘increasing’ demand for his signature,

Fabrizio Romano announced earlier this week that negotiations will be held.

Interestingly enough, though, Celtic are fans of Sydney van Hooijdonk,

a striker for Bologna and the son of Pierre van Hooijdonk, a forward for the Hoops in the 1990s.

The Scottish Premiership leaders have reportedly been scouting

the frontman and have named him as a target, according to reports from Italy.

And now there’s been additional action,

suggesting that an escape might happen soon.

Van Hooijdonk’s departure seems inevitable.

According to publication Gazzetta dello Sport (via 67 Hail Hail),

Celtic-linked Van Hooijdonk will leave Bologna this month.

Though he will be required against Cagliari on Sunday,

the intention is to sign Santiago Castro from Velez Sarsfield in Argentina and then let the Dutchman leave.

Following that, he should be cleared to depart, and based on Bologna’s interest in Vata,

the publication believes he will be joining Celtic.

They claim that this will facilitate the negotiations.

Rodgers notices the horrific form of the Eredivisie.

Van Hooijdonk, a 23-year-old striker,

joined Bologna in 2021 and is a graduate of the NAC Breda academy.

After spending eighteen months on loan at Heerenveen in his native country,

he returned to Italy in the summer with the intention of continuing

his “prolific” goal-scoring style (as described by talent scout Jacek Kulig).

After scoring 23 goals in his first 70 senior games for Breda,

he scored 26 goals in 54 games for Heerenveen, or nearly one in two.

With just one penalty to reach that total,

his 16 goals in the Eredivisie last season was enough to put him third in the scoring statistics.

His xG of 14 is also encouraging because it shows that although he didn’t overperform at an unsustainable pace,mobility was strong enough to create a lot of quality opportunities.

Despite his lack of scoring for Bologna this season, he has only played 129 league minutes,

or less than one and a half matches total, so it shouldn’t be used against him. Joshua Zirkzee,

a fellow countryman and number nine, has sadly hurt him. In all competitions,

Zirkzee has eight goals and four assists to really claim the position.

Brendan Rodgers wants to add a new number nine to his team after locking up a deal with wide man Nicolas Kuhn.

Van Hooijdonk’s track record in the Netherlands suggests

he might offer Kyogo Furuhashi strong competition and cover.

He would need to put in a significant amount of work to equal his father’s production,

who scored 44 goals in 69 league games with the Hornets.

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