Nicolas Kuhn has been the main surprise at Celtic this season as the German winger continues to be a reference point under Brendan Rodgers following his incredible start to the campaign.
Brought in for just under £3 million from Rapid Vienna in January, Kuhn’s early illness problems at the Bhoys limited his scope to make an impact during his first few months in Glasgow.
Nevertheless, the 24-year-old’s strong pre-season showing and a display of faith from Brendan Rodgers taken his game to heights not even the most optimistic supporter could’ve predicted only a few months ago.
Retrospectively, Nicolas Kuhn’s tally of ten goals and 11 assists in 17 appearances for Celtic circa 2024/25 has propelled him into a completely different dimension.
Now one of the first names on the team sheet at Parkhead, his rapid rise to prominence has garnered plenty of attention within Scottish football circles, but where has his dramatic upturn in form stemmed from?
Nicolas Kuhn’s rise at Celtic profiled
Speaking on Clyde 1 Superscoreboard, Andy Halliday believes Kuhn’s commitment to becoming more ‘unpredictable’ this season has helped his bid to regularly evade opposition backlines.
He explained: “I think Celtic’s match-winners yesterday did have an off game in terms of their standards, in terms of Adam Idah and Maeda and Engels and these types of guys, but I think Kuhn looked like the one that was always going to be that threat.
“He looked lively, but again, talking about the Kuhn of last year to the Kuhn of this year, I just think he’s a lot more unpredictable. There were times last year when he was branded, and he was playing on the right-hand side; he was always one to come inside the pitch, and he made the game a lot more compact for himself.
“I think his goal yesterday sort of typifies the new Nicolas Kuhn, should we say. Someone that’s willing to run off the ball, run in behind, make it more difficult to play against, go outside, go inside, and again, any person who’s played full-back in defence will tell you when you play against wingers like that, it’s extremely difficult.
“Not only the numbers, ten goals and ten assists in November is ridiculous, but I think performances as well, it’s been a massive improvement.”
Nicolas Kuhn has become undroppable for Celtic
Whether it be in the Scottish Premiership or Champions League, Kuhn has become Celtic’s go-to-guy on the big occasion, coming up with decisive strikes in crunch moments to help his side over the line.
On league duty, the former Germany Under-20 international has got 12 of his 28 shots taken on target. Meanwhile, he has also laid on 22 chances and completed 17 dribbles, becoming an awkward customer for defenders to contend with.
Realistically, it is difficult to envisage how long his electric run of performances could continue for, but his confidence is an at all-time high, giving the impression he could carry on at this rate for a while to come.
Inevitably, speculation surrounding his future will arise, but Kuhn has everything he could want at Celtic amid their superb start to the campaign.
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