Kasper Hogh scored a first-half hat-trick as Celtic beat Kilmarnock 5-1 at Rugby Park, an eye-catching start to life at the club after his £11million plus add-ons move from Bodo/Glimt. The fee makes the 25-year-old Danish forward the most expensive signing in Celtic's history.
Hogh opened the scoring with a close-range header before sealing his treble inside 35 minutes, stooping to head home a cross from fellow new signing Camilo Duran.
It was not just the goals that stood out. Hogh's ease on the ball and link-up play caught the eye, and his movement in the penalty box was described as reminiscent of former Celtic forward Kyogo Furuhashi. Hogh stands 6ft 1in and is not a target man in the traditional sense, but he offers an aerial threat Celtic have lacked.
Nevin hails a 'natural goalscorer'
Former Scotland winger Pat Nevin said Hogh looked like a new star after watching him perform against Kilmarnock. "Hogh is a new star," Nevin said. "And the Celtic fans have got someone they are going to fall in love with because he looks to me like a total and utter natural goalscorer, as well as a good technical player as well."
Nevin compared the excitement to Celtic's previous forwards. "Celtic loved Daizen Maeda with his work rate, and before that Kyogo Furuhashi, but this guy looks like he can fill those shoes with some ease," he said. "I can remember watching Kyogo in his first game and thinking: 'Oh, my word, you could be the new Henrik Larsson' because of his movement and he's that good."
Nevin said the hat-trick was no fluke. "After 45 minutes, I'm looking at Hogh and thinking this isn't a fluke," he said. "This is a player, this is a striker who knows where the goal is, knows where to go, has intelligent movement and there's his link-up play as well."
A change in transfer strategy
Ten years ago, as Celtic prepared to move on from manager Ronny Deila, then chief executive Peter Lawwell described the club's recruitment approach. "We are a club with Champions League aspirations, but we cannot buy Champions League-ready players," he said. "We look for potential."
That approach once brought success, with players including Fraser Forster, Victor Wanyama and Virgil van Dijk arriving from relative obscurity before being sold for large fees. It also produced players such as Stefan Scepovic, Mo Bangura and Amido Balde, who failed to make an impact.
Celtic have since moved away from that approach. Alongside Hogh, they signed Duran from Qarabag for an initial £5.5million. The Colombian scored five goals in ten appearances for Qarabag in last season's Champions League, against Benfica, Ajax, Eintracht Frankfurt (twice) and Newcastle. Despite playing out of position on the right in his first two matches for Celtic, Duran's pedigree as a forward has already been evident.
From Randers to the Arctic Circle
Hogh was born in Randers on Denmark's Jutland peninsula and was a prolific scorer at youth level for his local club, but did not make an appreciable impact in the first team. A loan spell in Iceland with Valur followed, then a move to Danish second-tier side Hobro IK that was disrupted by injury.
His subsequent move to Aalborg produced little, but eight goals in 14 matches on loan at newly promoted Norwegian side Stabaek marked the first real sign of his potential. Bodo/Glimt manager Kjetil Knutsen signed Hogh on a pre-contract that began at the start of 2024, on condition that he give up the party lifestyle he had become known for in Denmark. Knutsen told him it was time to "put away the cowboy hat." Hogh's Christian faith also deepened after his move to the city above the Arctic Circle.
Champions League form
In his first season at Bodo/Glimt, Hogh scored 12 league goals as the club retained their Norwegian title, and added seven goals in Europe as they reached the semi-finals of the Europa League. In the last calendar year he scored 17 goals in total, including five in the Champions League, against Manchester City (twice), Atletico Madrid, Inter Milan and Sporting Lisbon.
Celtic face a play-off against Austrian champions LASK, with manager Martin O'Neill expected to strengthen other positions before the tie.
