Celtic can forget about Kvistgaarden with move to sign “gifted” £0 striker

Celtic supporters are starting to get very excited about next season.

On Tuesday afternoon, in one of the worst-kept secrets in the history of Scottish football, Kieran Tierney’s return to the club was confirmed, six years after he was sold to Arsenal for £25m, still to this day a joint-club record.

So, with a true club icon and fans’ favourite on his way back to Paradise, Brendan Rodgers and his recruitment staff can turn their attention to other targets, but are the Premiership champions set to miss out on their dream centre-forward?

Latest on Celtic’s pursuit of Mathias Kvistgaarden

According to a report by Michael Gannon of the Daily Record, Celtic’s interest in Mathias Kvistgaarden has cooled, with the 22-year-old, who is valued at £12m, set to join either West Ham United, Eintracht Frankfurt or Lazio instead.

The striker scored 23 goals this season for Brøndby, who finished third in the Danish Superligaen, and his performances have earned widespread praise.

Farzam Abolhosseini of Tipsbladet labels him “magical”, scout António Mango believes that he is “absolutely sensational” and Jacek Kulig of Football Talent Scout forecasts that Kvistgaarden will only continue to improve.

However, his £12m price-tag was always likely to prove prohibitive, considering Celtic’s record signing remains the £11m paid to sign Arne Engels last August.

So, with the Hoops now focusing on other targets, one in particular stands out.

Celtic’s search for a new number nine

As has been previously reported, Celtic are one of many clubs interested in securing the services of Youssef El Kachati.

The 25-year-old is available as a free transfer, having left Telstar following the expiration of his contract.

Despite that, he departs Sportpark Schoonenberg a bona fide club legend, having scored 25 goals this season, firing the White Lions back into the Eredivisie for the first time in 47 years, netting five times in six play-off matches, on target home and away as Telstar defeated Willem II in the final.

So now, Martin McMillan of the Glasgow Times claims that El Kachati has turned down the chance to join German second-tier outfit Hannover, with Anthony Evans of the Daily Record reporting that Celtic are ‘supremely confident’ of making this deal happen.

The Dutch-born, Moroccan youth international’s performances in the Eerste Divisie have yielded plenty of praise, including from writer Martin Bjerke, who notes that El Kachati “combines physical presence with dynamic movement”, adding that he is “technically gifted”.

So, let’s assess how he compares to Kvistgaarden.

First and foremost, worth stating up front that, according to Global Football Rankings, the Superligaen is the 13th strongest league in the world, with the Dutch second division down in 70th, which is obviously worth considering.

That caveat aside, the pair do have similar statistics this season, with El Kachati scoring two more goals, albeit in around 1000 more minutes, while registering slightly more shots per 90.

Thus, it goes without saying that Kvistgaarden is a massive talent, and it is a blow that Celtic are seemingly set to miss out on him, but El Kachati certainly offers a low-cost, low-risk and potentially high-reward alternative.

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