Opinion - Unsure if Nicolas Kühn is really what Celtic needs

I have, like the rest of you, been following the first real concrete transfer speculation regarding Celtic bringing someone in during this current window with real interest.

The rumour is that Celtic are on the verge of signing German Nicolas Kühn from Austrian side Rapid Vienna. Most of the coverage I have seen around this potential transfer has been positive in the minds of my fellow Celtic fans, I however feel wholly underwhelmed and I’ll tell you the reasons why.

Firstly, when I mentioned Kühn in the paragraph above I almost wrote ‘German youngster’ which would have been totally untrue. The winger is 24 years old, far from being a youngster I would say. Now some of you may be thinking well isn’t that a good thing as we need more players with experience but I would like to direct you to the players career so far.

He has actually only played two and a half seasons of senior football so far in his career. First of which was a season in the German second division with Erzgebirge Aue then a season and a half at his current club Rapid Vienna. Very little experience for a 24 year old I would say.

SOCCER – BL, Altach vs Rapid ALTACH,AUSTRIA,05.NOV.23 – SOCCER – ADMIRAL Bundesliga, SCR Altach vs SK Rapid Wien. Image shows Nicolas Kuehn Rapid. GEPA pictures/ Oliver Lerch

All we have heard from Brendan Rodgers these past few months is how he is looking to bring experienced players into the fold who can help us reach the next level. Looking at his career so far there is no way we can say Kühn brings that experience Brendan has been looking for. This of course doesn’t make him a bad player, I’m just pointing out he definitely lacks experience.

Much has also been made of the player previously playing for Ajax and Bayern Munich, which is factually correct but doesn’t tell the full story. Kühn did play for both the Dutch and German giants but only in their second teams. He has however represented Germany right the way through their youth set up as far as the under 20’s which he last represented in 2019.

As a fan base we have been calling out for Celtic to buy ‘oven ready’ players as we are all starting to get a bit weary due to the constant flow of ‘projects’ we have been bringing in. Is Kühn oven ready? Personally I don’t think he is. To me he seems like yet another project.

A player who seems to be on an upward trajectory recently but who will still be a risk all the same. I have, like I’m sure a lot of you reading this article will also have done, watched his highlight reel on YouTube.

Firstly I have to say although I still do this from time to time with potential signings, I always feel the same about these videos. You can make almost anyone look good in these 5 minute clips. I’m not going to waste my time looking it up but I bet even Cyriel Dessers and Sam Lammers look good on YouTube. Even so while watching Kühn’s video all I could think about was the last one I watched which was Marco Tilio and how similar this video was to his. The less said about how Tilio has fared at Celtic, the better.

Looking at Kühn’s stats during his career has also left me feeling pretty underwhelmed. During his time with current club Rapid Vienna the German has played 51 games and has seven goals and ten assists to his name. During his time in 2.Bundesliga with Erzgebirge Aue he played 27 times and scored three times while assisting four. So we can see he has produced very similar stats at both clubs, having played half the amount of games in Germany. Pretty much a goal every 7 games and an assist every 5.

SOCCER – BL, Wattens vs Rapid INNSBRUCK,AUSTRIA,05.DEC.23 – SOCCER – ADMIRAL Bundesliga, WSG Tirol vs SK Rapid Wien. Image shows Nicolas Kuehn Rapid. GEPA pictures/ Daniel Schoenherr

If one of our current wingers were posting these stats we wouldn’t be happy. Is 2.Bundesliga or the Austrian Bundesliga a higher standard than Scotland? No they aren’t. Now to give a bit of perspective Erzgebirge Aue got relegated the season he played there and Rapid Vienna are no longer the top dogs in their country like they were previously so yes he probably will get into more attacking positions at Celtic but at the same time, I don’t think these stats are anywhere near great.

I hate to be so negative around potential signings and I hope if we do sign Kühn I am totally wrong and he goes on to light up Celtic Park but I have to say I expected more. As I mentioned earlier Brendan Rodgers has been adamant he wants to bring in players with experience and quality who can take us to the next level and I just don’t feel this signing will provide that.

Conall McGinty