Nygren: Celtic's new Swedish forward with echoes of Larsson

Benjamin Nygren starred for Nordsjaelland in the Conference League Talk of signing another Swedish international forward will naturally have Celtic fans reminiscing about the legend that was - and is - Henrik Larsson. Bought for a pittance from Feyenoord in 1997, he would spend seven trophy-filled seasons with the Glasgow club before going on to perform admirably for Barcelona and Manchester United in his twilight years. Benjamin Nygren will be dreaming of making a similar impact at Celtic Park after completing his transfer from Nordsjaelland for a fee reportedly less than £2m. The 23-year-old has spent three and a half years in the Danish Superliga but said in a recent Swedish television interview that he believes it is time for him to move to a bigger club, in front of a packed stadium, and to play in the Champions League. Celtic tick those boxes, at least if they can negotiate a play-off, but what about his profile has attracted the Scottish champions? Nygren came through IFK Goteborg's youth ranks before making his competitive debut as a 16-year-old in 2018. That came shortly after he agreed professional terms with his local club despite reported interest from Bayern Munich, Inter Milan and Manchester City. He was still only 17 when he moved on to Genk in Belgium's top flight for a reported fee of £4.2m - a record sale by IFK. Nygren had only made 15 appearances by that time, but had already displayed his scoring prowess with six goals - with four coming in 12 appearances during his second season with the first team as they finished seventh in Sweden's top division. He would only play seven times for Genk, scoring once, but his European travels had meantime taken him to the Netherlands on loan. Nygren scored seven times in 32 appearances as Heerenveen finished 12th in the Eredivisie and reached a national cup semi-final. His second season on loan was not quite as fruitful, failing to find the net in 19 appearances, and he joined Nordsjaelland in January 2022 after having his loan spell terminated - and cutting short his contract with Genk by two years. His Danish venture, alongside current Rangers midfielder Mohamed Diomande, started modestly but he helped his new club avoid relegation. However, Nygren's career was back on track as six goals in 31 games in his first full campaign in the Superliga took Nordsjaelland to the top of the table by the end of the regular season only to be overtaken by Copenhagen after the split. Finishing runners-up at least led to Conference League group stage football the following season and, although they would finish third behind Fenerbahce and Ludogorets Razgrad, it would thrust Nygren into the European limelight. The Swede grabbed a double in a 7-1 thrashing of the Bulgarians and upstaged that with a hat-trick in a 6-1 drubbing of the Turks - results that no doubt helped draw Nygren to Celtic's attention. With Nordsjaelland, now minus Ibrox-bound Diomande, finishing fourth in the Superliga, Nygren would chalk up 12 goals from 31 appearances overall and, although his side were only fifth this past season, he would surpass that personally by finding the net 16 times in 32 games. He leaves Denmark having scored 35 goals in 107 appearances overall for Nordsjaelland over three-and-a-half seasons - the fourth-highest scorer in their history and not a bad return for someone viewed as primarily a right winger. Benjamin Nygren has scored twice in four Sweden appearances With Scotland defender Kieran Tierney back at Celtic Park on a free transfer from Arsenal and Ross Doohan returning as back-up goalkeeper from Aberdeen, Nygren becomes Brendan Rodgers' first proper new face of the summer. It is no surprise that Celtic's first outgoing fee since the opening of the transfer window has been paid for a player with Nygren's qualities. With Kyogo Furuhashi sold to Rennes near the end of the January window, fellow Japan forward Daizen Maeda had - at times - been pushed up front from his normal wide left role. While Maeda proved to be a highly effective striker, outshining specialist Adam Idah, it left Celtic short of options on the wings, especially when Jota, who had returned in January from Rennes, was injured. With the Portuguese ruled out until the end of the year and right winger Nicolas Kuhn - and, indeed, Maeda - reportedly attracting attention from clubs around Europe, another wide man with a goal threat was badly needed. Not that Nygren should be seen as an out-and-out right winger. Nygren's style is not too disimilar to that of Vaclav Cerny, the Czech international who impressed on loan to Rangers from Wolfsburg last season, often drifting infield to fire for goal with his favoured left foot. Indeed, IFK sporting director Mats Gren was quoted in a recent interview as saying that he is best as a number 10. His first two goals against Fenerbahce, for example, came after picking the ball up centrally and dribbling into the penalty box. Meanwhile, his third against the Turks and his first for Sweden - as he earned his second cap in a 5-1 thumping of Northern Ireland in March - were poacher tap-ins inside the six-yard box and he has since added a curled finish against Hungary. No wonder Celtic manager Brendan Rodgers has described Nygren as an "exciting" player who will be a crowd pleaser. Compared to Kuhn, the German has more dribbles and creates more chances for others, but while their statistics are broadly similar, the Swede is ahead in attempts on goal, goals per game and, given his greater height, aerial duels won. Perhaps, like Larsson, Nygren will arrive asa cut-price winger,externaland leave a legendary goalscorer.