Stephen McGinn has perfectly captured the ongoing tactical debate surrounding Benjamin Nygren, shedding light on exactly why the club’s top scorer continues to divide the Celtic fanbase.
Despite boasting highly impressive attacking numbers, Nygren’s overall contribution to the underperforming Celtic engine room often sparks fierce discussion.
Given that it’s the March international break, Go Radio were discussing Scotland’s friendly matches after qualifying for the 2026 World Cup, and the role of match-winner, Scott McTominay.
That’s when McGinn, whose brother is Aston Villa captain John, compared the Napoli star to Celtic’s marmite-like figure from Sweden.
“It’s probably the same debate with Celtic fans and Nygren,” McGinn explained. “Some are split about him; you can’t ignore the goals and assists. But they are split about him as an actual midfielder.”
Are Celtic fans too harsh towards Benjamin Nygren?
Another goal and assist on the charts
Is Celtic’s Benjamin Nygren like Scotland star Scott McTominay?
You can’t argue with the numbers. Nygren has been Celtic’s most reliable route to goal this season, scoring 19 in all competitions, including 15 in the Premiership.
Yet Celtic’s summer signing from FC Nordsjælland frustrates sections of his own support because his game lacks the traditional dictation and defensive cover you would normally expect from a central midfielder.
That’s why McGinn, who is also a coach at Falkirk, made the comparison between Celtic’s attacking star and Scotland’s World Cup hero on Go Radio.
“It’s probably the same debate with Celtic fans and Nygren,” said McGinn. “Some are split about him; you can’t ignore the goals and assists.
“But they are split about him as an actual midfielder. Part of the thing with a goalscoring midfielder is you have a striker, and you time your run into the box. It’s a different game. Your back to goal. You need to bring players into play.
“I get it. But I can also see why managers don’t do it.”
Nygren and McTominay’s stats for club and country
Both are undeniably efficient on the international stage; McTominay boasts an impressive 18 goal involvements in 68 matches for the Tartan Army.
Similarly, Nygren has made a highly interesting start to his senior Swedish career.
In just eight appearances, he already has three goals and one assist – including a crucial setup during this March international break that has taken his country to within just one game of the 2026 World Cup when Sweden beat Ukraine 3-1.
Perhaps the real issue for Nygren is the disjointed, underperforming and declining squad he has worked with at Celtic.
Like McTominay, Nygren needs better players around him. If that were the case, his goalscoring returns would be viewed as an absolute luxury rather than fans demanding him to do things that simply aren’t in his skill range.
- Nygren’s Premiership games: 31
- Goals: 15
- Average passes per game: 32
- Total shots: 2.4
- Goal conversion: 21%
- Touches: 45.9
- Team of the week: 7
- Sofascore rating: 7.22
- McTominay’s Serie A games: 25
- Goals: 7
- Average passes per game: 37.7
- Total shots: 2.9
- Goal conversion: 10%
- Touches: 54.8
- Team of the week: 2
- Sofascore rating: 7.02
Receive a digest of our best Celtic content each week direct to your mailbox
