When Celtic signed Finnish forward Teemu Pukki in 2013, they must have hoped that he would follow in the footsteps of another famous Scandinavian star who lit up Glasgow at the start of the 21st century; Henrik Larsson.
Yet, as is the case for nearly every striker who has joined the Hoops since the Swede’s departure in 2004, it proved to be an impossible task for the former Sevilla player.
Following two seasons playing for Bundesliga side Schalke 04 where he scored a modest total of eight goals, Neil Lennon decided to take a risk on Pukki by bringing him to the Scottish Premiership.
Signed on a four-year-contract (as reported by the BBC), the forward made a brilliant start for Celtic, scoring in his two appearances for the club. However, early impressions proved to be a false representation of Pukki’s time in Scotland as he only added five more goals to his tally in the remaining 35 games as he struggled to adapt to his new surroundings.
Nevertheless, he once again showed glimpses of his attacking prowess at the start of the following campaign as he scored a brace in the Hoops’ Champions League qualifying tie against Icelandic side KR Reykjavik. Despite this, however, Lennon decided to cut ties with Pukki by loaning him out to Brondby IF in 2014. After impressing during his first season with the Danish side, the striker made a permanent move from the Hoops a year later.
Three more successful campaigns leading the line at Brondby saw Pukki score 59 goals in all competitions as he helped the club secure their first Danish Cup victory in 10 years at the end of the 2017/18 campaign before joining Championship side Norwich City last summer.
Since his move to the Canaries, the Finland international has been nothing short of exceptional. With 24 goals to his name already this season, he is the top scorer in England’s second tier and is on the verge of achieving promotion to the Premier League.
If Norwich do go on to achieve automatic promotion, it will further indicate that Lennon’s decision to let the 28-year-old leave Celtic five years ago was ultimately a huge mistake.
Indeed, Pukki’s record whilst playing for the Hoops was fairly unspectacular and he has since been labelled as a flop, but it could be argued that if he was given more time to adapt to the pace and power of Scottish football, he could have easily been leading the line for the club in a similar way that he is now doing for the Canaries.
