Sydney van Hooijdonk is not ruling out a January departure from his Serie A employers with Scottish Premiership champions Celtic big fans of the £4 million-rated centre-forward.
Celtic legend Chris Sutton said only three weeks ago that the Hoops are missing a striker of Giorgios Giakoumakis’ ilk (The National). Strong, instinctive, and an emphatic finisher inside the penalty area, Sydney van Hooijdonk could certainly fill the boots of his former Eredivisie counterpart at Parkhead.
According to Il Resto del Carlino, Celtic expressed an interest in ex-Heerenveen talisman Van Hooijdonk over the summer. Whether the Glasgow giants have any intention of renewing that pursuit in January remains to be seen. But, as Sutton explained, an old-school, penalty-box predator could still come in very useful under Brendan Rodgers.
Celtic like Sydney van Hooijdonk
Van Hooijdonk, the son of former Celtic hero Pierre, scored 19 times on loan at Heerenveen in 2022/23, many of those instinctive first-time finishes after finding a pocket of space in the area. Now out of favour at Bologna, the seldom-seen Dutchman admits that – while he is still enjoying life in Italy – a mid-season change of scenery may be for the best.
“I’m fine here, but I can’t say whether I’ll leave or stay,” Van Hooijdonk, kept out of the Rossoblu XI by the in-form Joshua Zirkzee, tells Corriere dello Sport.
“I’m fine. I’m at a good team and I like life a lot. But I have to do what’s best for my growth. For my career. I also have to play.
“In football, things can change quickly. There are two months left until January and who knows what will happen? Now, there is Joshua who is playing a great season.
“Do the rumours about my possible transfer bother me? It’s normal when you don’t play. In the last year-and-a-half, I’ve played a lot and also scored a lot. In my opinion, Bologna isn’t the same as when I came here two years ago. Everything has improved. The level… everything.
“We’ll see what happens.”
Giorgios Giakoumakis’ replacement
Van Hooijdonk has only played 42 minutes of Serie A football in 2023/24.
At Celtic, he would provide extra depth to a frontline already containing the brilliant Kyogo Furuhashi and the promising but as-yet unproven Oh Hyeon-Gyu.
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