‘Nicolas Kuhn’s attitude at Celtic slammed as Newcastle transfer dismissed’
Nicolas Kuhn’s attitude issues at Celtic are likely to force Newcastle to pursue other targets in the summer transfer window, according to Chris Sutton.
With just two games remaining of the Scottish Premiership season, Celtic find themselves in an all too familiar situation, 13 points clear of arch rivals Rangers and coasting to another league title.
With this being said, the Hoops are not in great form having lost two of their previous five, and in turn caused some supporters to question whether the club have taken their foots off the gas.
One player in particular who has been accused of this is Kuhn, whose one goal and one assist in his last five appearances, is showing signs of tailing off towards the end of the campaign, with Sutton criticising him the German and his teammates for their complacency since the January window.
Former Man United and Sunderland chief scout Mick Brown, who remains very well-connected within the game, exclusively told Football Insider in February that Newcastle were considering an approach for the 25-year-old this summer.
However, former Hoops striker Sutton believes that the Magpie’s will be put off by the players attitude and that Kuhn would be “lucky” if even Championship Sunderland wanted to sign him in the coming window.
Kuhn looks like a player who “thought he’d cracked it”
In his column for the Daily Record, the pundit said Khun’s attitude is putting clubs off from signing him, writing: “You’re waiting for Celtic to go back up through the gears – but they can’t just assume it will happen. That’s what seems to be going on with Nicolas Kuhn. You don’t want to single out players but there has been a huge drop off with the German.
“It smacks to me as an attitude thing. He looks like a player who thought he’d cracked it and everything would just fall into place for him.
“But you need to put in the word and we haven’t seen enough of it lately. Back in December there was talk about Newcastle United considering a bid and it was by no means a stretch of the imagination.
“He’d be lucky if Sunderland came in for him on recent form. You can bet teams like Newcastle would have been watching him back then. The thing is though, they will continue to watch and they won’t have been too impressed with his application of late.”
| Kuhn stats for Celtic 24/25 |
| Games – 44 |
| Goals – 18 |
| Assists – 14 |
Question marks over Kuhn’s Celtic future
Football Insider Verdict
The German forward is best known for his agility, pace and close-control, all of which are key ingredients for any top winger.
Kuhn has attempted 94 dribbles and successfully completed 53, resulting in a dribble success rate of approximately 56.4% throughout Celtic’s league campaign.
In the correct system, such as Eddie Howe‘s Newcastle, this could be developed into a dangerous asset in the Premier League.
The English coach has an excellent track record of creating explosive, technically gifted wingers with the likes of Anthony Gordon and more recently Jacob Murphy thriving under his leadership.
Many top club’s would have been alerted by Kuhn’s performances in the Champions League this term, most notably against German sides RB Leipzig and Bayern Munich.
However, as is often the case for bright attacking talent, it appears the 25-year-old will need to show he has the attitude and mentality in order to move away from Celtic Park this summer.