Celtic are crying out for a more dynamic attack.
The loss of Kyogo Furuhashi, Nicolas Kuhn, Matt O’Riley and Adam Idah over the last 18 months has left the team desperately short on goals.
In attempting to get their wide options back up to scratch, Celtic have failed desperately. Michel-Ange Balikwisha and Joel Mvuka have both been disastrous signings this season.
Many fans are critical of the team’s lack of forward thinking in possession. This applies to all positions, but perhaps it applies most to the wingers.
Who is that one player Celtic never signed that they should have gone all out for?
Ex-Celtic target Sondre Orjasaeter ranks among world’s best for take-ons
The International Centre for Sports Studies — widely cited for sports stats and analysis – has ranked the under-23 wingers outside of Europe’s top five leagues with the highest percentage of take-ons.
The “take-on%” stat compares successful take-ons (beating the defender) against unsuccessful ones (losing the ball, or turning back without beating the defender).
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Sondre Orjasaeter, heavily linked with Celtic in multiple transfer windows, ranks second for successful take-ons in the list.
After being pursued in both the January and summer windows of 2025, the Norwegian winger eventually left Sarpsborg to join FC Twente in the Netherlands.
He isn’t the most prolific, but he has been ever-present in the starting XI for the Dutch side this season. They currently sit above Ajax and AZ Alkmaar in the Eredivisie table.
Sebastian Tounekti has shown seriously promising signs of his take-on ability, but he has often lacked the courage to inject tempo into pedestrian attacks.
Hyunjun Yang, on the other hand, is undoubtedly a dynamic player who can beat a man. But his lack of invention is evidenced by the fact that he is yet to register an assist in the Scottish Premiership this season.
Orjasaeter, on the other hand, has six for Twente this season.
Nilson Angulo, another winger linked with Celtic last summer, has also shown Celtic what they’re missing this season. His performances for Anderlecht earned him a £17.5m move to Sunderland in January.
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Sondre Orjasaeter on potential Celtic move
Orjasaeter reflected on his reservations about moving to Celtic in December, telling De Twaalfde Man: “I don’t think the type of football played [at Celtic] suits me best.
“The Eredivisie has proven to be a very good platform for young players like me, and there are a lot of technically skilled players there.”
“I didn’t have much time to think about whether I wanted to go to FC Twente. Of course, I knew they were narrowly eliminated in the Europa League group stage last season against Bodø/Glimt.
“Everyone I spoke to about the club talked about the fans and how Twente played.”
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