Lars Veldwijk is plying his trade in Norway these days after just eleven appearances for Nottingham Forest so why would Celtic have wanted him?
While Celtic supporters can toast the genius of Moussa Dembele on a weekly basis, life has not always been so smooth. After all, before the prodigious Frenchman arrived last summer, there was a litany of under-performing, overpriced forwards walking through the doors of Parkhead, only to disappear soon after with their reputation shot to pieces.
And there is little reason to believe Lars Veldwijk would not have followed in the footsteps of Teemu Pukki, Amido Balde and Stefan Scepovic (below).
After Brendan Rodgers’ reign started in inauspicious fashion with a 1-0 Champions League qualifying defeat to Gibraltan minnows Lincoln Red Imps, Elf Voetbal reported that Celtic could turn their attentions to Veldwijk.
The strapping centre-forward may have netted 14 goals in 35 Eredivisie games on loan at PEC Zwolle the previous season but his disastrous spell at Nottingham Forest should have got alarm bells ringing furiously.
Arriving at the City Ground from Excelsior in 2014 for a fee rising to £1 million, as reported by the Nottingham Post, Veldwijk mustered a grand total of eleven substitute appearances in his debut Championship season, failing to find the net even once.
And, bafflingly, the 25-year-old is still owned by Forest, albeit maybe not for long. Norwegian club Aalesunds handed Veldwijk a lifeline in January, signing him on loan with an option to buy at the end of the season. And, so far, he’s managed just one goal in five games.
Rodgers will probably be content enough with Dembele and Leigh Griffiths to choose from.
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