Celtic remain top of the Scottish Premiership table, albeit only just.
On Sunday, the Hoops required a very controversial penalty to beat Kilmarnock 2-1 at Rugby Park; Kelechi Ịheanachọ marking his debut by converting a 96th-minute spot-kick in Ayrshire.
This means Brendan Rodgers’ side remain above Hearts by virtue of goal difference, albeit they’ve scored just eight goals in five Premiership fixtures so far, which has to be a concern ahead of their Europa League opener against Crvena zvezda at Stadion Rajko Mitić in Belgrade next Wednesday.
The departures of Kyōgo Furuhashi and Nicolas Kühn this year explain why the Celts are finding goals hard to come by, so would they actually have been better off keeping hold of a forgotten flop sold for just £500,000 by Ronny Deila?
Celtic's messy striker situation
Having not replaced the aforementioned Kyōgo, who was sold in January, it then came as a massive surprise when, on deadline day, Celtic sold Adam Idah to Swansea City for £7m.
Supporters assumed the club must have a replacement lined up but, well, that just wasn’t the case, seeing multiple low-ball bids rejected by Anderlecht for Kasper Dolberg, who never had any intention of moving to Glasgow, instead re-joining Ajax.
The window closed and Rodgers’ squad featured no senior centre-forward so, in a state of panic, the Celts signed Ịheanachọ, the Nigerian international having become a free agent after his contract had been terminated by Sevilla, showing how far from desperate the Spanish side were to have him around.
Well, considering Ịheanachọ scored zero La Liga goals for los Nervionenses, it is easy to understand why.
So, while the 28-year-old did convert that penalty at Kilmarnock, the jury very much remains out on whether or not he’ll be a success at Parkhead, so would a forgotten ex-Celtic flop actually have been a better option, still banging the goals in at 35?
Forgotten former Celtic striker still prolific
Back in August 2013, another classic late-summer signing, Celtic bought a 23-year-old by the name of Teemu Pukki from Schalke for a reported fee of £3m.
The Finnish international did score during his first two Premiership appearances, on target against Hearts and St Johnstone, but didn’t make much of an impression after that, netting just nine times in 38 outings for the club, loaned out to Brøndby a year later, before joining the Danish club permanently for around £500k, to no outrage or fuss whatsoever.
Well, since he was last seen in Glasgow, Pukki has scored 210 club goals, as well as becoming Finland’s all-time record goalscorer, smashing Jari Litmanen’s record, firing the Eagle-owls to their first-ever major tournament by netting ten times during Euro 2020 qualifying.
He is most well-known for his five seasons at Norwich City, scoring 29 and then 26 times as the Canaries won two separate EFL Championship titles, also bagging a respectable 11 Premier League goals in both 2019/20 and 20221/22.
During his peak at Carrow Road, teammate Marco Stiepermann labelled him a “special” player, adding that he “is much colder in the 18-yard box than Robert Lewandowski”, who the German had previously played alongside at Borussia Dortmund.
After leaving Norfolk, Pukki joined Major League Soccer side Minnesota United, scoring 14 times in 43 outings for the Loons, helping them reach last year’s MLS Western Conference semi-finals, most notably bagging four during a 5-2 victory over LA Galaxy in October 2023.
Since 2009, only ten players have scored 4+ goals in a single MLS match.
Not satisfied with his output in 2024 though, Minnesota allowed him to leave earlier this year, with Pukki thereby returning to his homeland in January, re-joining HJK Helsinki, a move that has certainly revitalised his career.
Pukki has bagged 18 goals in 2025, and counting, netting ten times in the Veikkausliiga, also on target when HJK were dumped out of Conference League qualifying by Bulgarian side Arda Kardzhali on penalties.
The table below fully documents Pukki’s scoring exploits since joining Celtic.
2013/14
Celtic
9
2014/15
Brøndby
11
2015/16
Brøndby
13
2016/17
Brøndby
29
2017/18
Brøndby
19
2018/19
Norwich
30
2019/20
Norwich
11
2020/21
Norwich
26
2021/22
Norwich
11
2022/23
Norwich
10
2023*
Minnesota
10
2024*
Minnesota
4
2025*
HJK
18
*MLS & Veikkausliiga are summer leagues.
As the table documents, aside from his miserable year in Saint Paul throughout 2024, Pukki has been prolific everywhere he has been since his one-year stint at Parkhead.
His 18 goal haul in 2025 is more than Idah’s tally of 12, while you have to go back to January 2023 to find Ịheanachọ’s 18th goal ago, having not bagged eight in a single campaign since 2020/21.
Thus, Pukki’s short-lived Celtic career proves that players should never be written off and may simply find themselves in the wrong environment at the wrong time.