It’s set to be a busy summer transfer window at Celtic Park, as always seems to be the case.
Kieran Tierney has already secured his Celtic return, resulting in much excitement, but many more signings are set to follow.
Now, the Hoops are closing in on a “fearless” new winger reminiscent of a certain Liel Abada.
How Liel Abada is faring after leaving Celtic
Countless players have enjoyed longer Celtic careers, with many making many more appearances in green and white hoops, but Abada will always be remembered fondly by the supporters.
Just 20 years old at the time, Abada arrived from Maccabi Petah Tikva for a reported fee of £3.6m in the summer of 2021.
He netted the first goal of the Ange Postecoglou era in a Champions League qualifier against Midtjylland, scoring 29 times and registering 22 assists in 112 outings for the club, named PFA Scotland Young Player of the Year during his debut campaign.
A few of Abada’s goals are why he is so fondly remembered by fans, namely a stoppage-time winner against Dundee United, as well as goals during Old Firm demolition victories, adding the third in a 3-0 win in February 2022, before bagging a brace during a 4-0 hammering of Rangers later that year.
However, after being sidelined with a long-term injury and due to growing tension following the escalation of the Israel-Palestine conflict, Abada was sold to MLS side Charlotte FC for a reported fee of £10m in March last year, representing a tidy profit.
Since then, he’s been pretty impressive in America, scoring 13 goals in 46 games, also registering three assists.
Now, Celtic could be set to land their next goal-scoring winger.
Celtic set to sign a new wide-attacker
As has been widely reported, including by reports in Belgium, Celtic are now set to sign Benjamin Nygren from Nordsjælland for a reported £2m fee.
Nygren was also linked with Anderlecht but has allegedly chosen to head to Scotland in favour of heading elsewhere in Europe. As such, he is ‘expected to complete his move to the Premiership’.
Speaking to Swedish outlet Fotboll Skanalen earlier this month, Nygren admitted “it’s clear that there is a lot of interest. I have done extremely well this whole season… I will leave”.
The 23-year-old winger made his senior debut for hometown club IFK Göteborg, before spells with Genk and Heerenveen, joining current side Nordsjælland in January 2022, scoring an impressive 35 goals in 107 appearances for the Tigers.
His form at club level saw him earn a senior international debut earlier this year, featuring in all four of Sweden’s fixtures in 2025 to date, scoring against both Northern Ireland in Stockholm and Hungary at the Puskás Aréna just last week.
So, let’s assess why he’s so similar to Abada.
Goals
15
3rd
Assists
2
69th
Shots
82
3rd
Shots on target
40
1st
Shots on target %
48.8
10th
Big chances missed
14
3rd
Average SofaScore rating
7.42
4th
As the table outlines, like the Israeli, Nygren is very much a goal-scoring wide-attacker, hence why he had more shots on target than anyone else in this season’s Superligaen, also ranked in the top three for goals, shots and big chances missed.
International teammate Alexander Isak described Nygren as “fearless” and full of “confidence”, adding that he thoroughly enjoyed playing alongside a winger who is able to “provide good crosses”.
Sakhu Mpofu of Total Football Analysis outlines how he is best as a right-winger who likes to ‘invert into the centre’, while he is also described as “versatile” and ‘one of the most underrated” players in Denmark’s top-flight.
Thus, it is clear that Celtic are set to secure the services of a high-quality wide-attacker, with similar natural goal-scoring instincts to one of the previous incumbents of the right-wing position, Abada.
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