Celtic are looking to bring in another number nine to bolster Martin O’Neill’s attacking options before the end of the January transfer window.
The Hoops have recently been linked with moves for Leeds United’s Joel Piroe, West Ham United’s Callum Wilson, and Hibernian’s Kieron Bowie, which shows that there is a clear focus on signing a centre-forward.
Bowie is a particularly interesting name from that list of strikers because he is a proven Scottish Premiership performer who could hit the ground running at Parkhead.
The 23-year-old Scottish striker has scored eight goals in the league for Hibs this season, per Sofascore, and only Benjamin Nygren (ten) has scored more in the division for Celtic.
Whoever the Hoops end up landing, the club need to find a consistent goalscorer who can finally fill the void that was left by Kyogo Furuhashi last year.
Ranking Celtic’s strikers since Kyogo Furuhashi left
The Scottish giants sold the Japan international to Rennes for a fee of £10m last January, and he left the club with 85 goals in 165 appearances in all competitions, per Transfermarkt.
Kyogo, as shown in the graphic above, hit double figures for goals in the Premiership in all four of his seasons at the club, which illustrates how reliable he was for the club.
Since the Japanese star moved on from Parkhead, Daizen Maeda’s return of 13 goals in 20 games as a centre-forward leads the way for the Hoops, per Transfermarkt, despite the fact that he is a natural winger.
|
Goals by Celtic strikers since Kyogo left |
||
|---|---|---|
|
Player |
Appearances |
Goals |
|
Johnny Kenny |
30 |
7 |
|
Adam Idah |
26 |
12 |
|
Daizen Maeda |
20 |
13 |
|
Shin Yamada |
11 |
0 |
|
Kelechi Iheanacho |
10 |
3 |
As you can see in the table above, Adam Idah also scored 12 goals in 26 games before his move to Swansea last summer, and he is another player who has not been adequately replaced.
Maeda has, quite clearly, been the most effective striker since Kyogo left, with Idah just behind him, whilst Johnny Kenny and Kelechi Iheanacho have both been unspectacular, and Shin Yamada comfortably sits at the bottom of the pile.
Given that Celtic’s best ‘striker’ since Kyogo joined Rennes has actually been a winger, the Hoops clearly need to sign a player who can be their next reliable number nine.
The striker Celtic should sign to finally replace Kyogo
Whilst Bowie is an interesting transfer target, due to his proven quality in the Premiership, Celtic have been linked with another centre-forward who could be even better than the Scottish star.
It was recently reported that the reigning Premiership champions are interested in a deal to sign Wolfsburg number nine Jonas Wind in the January transfer window.
The Denmark international, once described as a “wonderful” player by journalist Josh Bunting, is out of contract in the summer and has struggled in the current campaign, with no goals in three starts in the Bundesliga, which is why he may be available for the Hoops.
Celtic should take advantage of this situation, rather than be put off by it, because the rest of his career suggests that he would be their best centre-forward since Kyogo and an even better option than Bowie.
Whilst the Hibs striker has never scored more than nine goals in a single season in his career, per Sofascore, Wind has hit double figures for goals in four seasons, including 30 goals in the 2020/21 and 2021/22 campaigns combined for Copenhagen and Wolfsburg.
The 26-year-old star, as shown in the clips above, is an incredibly dynamic striker who can score in a variety of ways, from range, in the box, off the dribble, first-time, and acrobatically.
|
Jonas Wind’s Bundesliga career |
||
|---|---|---|
|
Season |
xG |
Goals |
|
25/26 |
0.8 |
0 |
|
24/25 |
5.7 |
9 |
|
23/24 |
9.4 |
11 |
|
22/23 |
5.2 |
6 |
|
21/22 |
4.5 |
5 |
Wind’s performance against xG in his Bundesliga career, as shown above, also speaks to the reliability of his finishing, as he has outperformed his xG in all four of his seasons in the division prior to the current campaign.
Meanwhile, at Celtic, Maeda has only scored seven goals from 9.39 xG and Kenny has only scored four goals from 6.82 xG in the Premiership this season, and Idah only scored 13 goals from 13.57 xG in the division last term for Celtic, per FotMob.
These statistics suggest that Wind would be the most clinical striker Celtic have had since Kyogo left, as O’Neill’s current options have been far too wasteful in front of goal, if they can get him back to his best in front of goal.
If the Danish star can recapture his spark in the final third, the Wolfsburg forward would also be an even better player than Bowie, because their respective goalscoring output in their careers suggest that the Dane has more potential to hit big numbers for goals in a season.
Better signing than Kovacevic: Celtic could land Kenny upgrade for £6.5m
Celtic could make an even better signing than Franko Kovacevic by swooping for this reported target.
Therefore, the Hoops should be pushing to get a deal over the line for Wind if a move is feasible, because he could be their most clinical and prolific scorer since Kyogo.
