Celtic supporters have been lucky enough to enjoy plenty of top-quality centre-forwards in recent years.
Henrik Larsson will forever remain the gold standard, given that he scored 242 goals in 313 appearances for the club between 1997 and 2004, winning eight major honours, firing them to the UEFA Cup Final of 2003 and picking up the European Golden Shoe in 2001.
In more recent times, Odsonne Édouard, Moussa Dembélé and Kyōgo Furuhashi have all racked up plenty of goals and trophies as Celtic’s centre-forward.
Supporters may argue they do not have a striker of the requisite quality right now, although that opinion could soon be changing, while a player you’ve probably completely forgotten ever played for Celtic is tearing it up in one of the world’s strongest leagues.
Kelechi Iheanacho's start to life at Celtic
Fair to say, not a lot was expected of Kelechi Iheanacho when he arrived at Celtic, considering he joined after the transfer window had closed as an archetypal panic buy.
Well, so far, the Nigerian international is proving the doubters wrong, converting a stoppage time penalty to snatch victory at Kilmarnock on debut, before breaking the deadlock during Wednesday night’s Europa League draw with Crvena zvezda in Belgrade.
During his time at Leicester City, Iheanacho was known as a “deadly finisher”, his best campaign coming in 2020/21, scoring 19 goals in all competitions, four of which came in the FA Cup, a key figure as the Foxes won that competition for the first time ever.
Since then though, he’s not managed more than eight goals in a single campaign, scoring zero times in La Liga during his brief time at Sevilla, hence why los Nervionenses jumped at the chance to cut ties with him.
Nevertheless, reunited with Brendan Rodgers, his manager in the East Midlands of course, Iheanacho looks revitalised and reinvigorated, back to his clinical best in front of goal.
Nevertheless, there is a forward, who made almost no impact at all at Celtic, who actually has more goals to his name at this early stage of the season.
Forgotten Celtic flop on fire in the Bundesliga
We all have that one player who, when they first burst onto the scene, you are certain they’re going to be a future Ballon d’Or winner one day.
Where Are They Now
Your star player or biggest flop has left the club but what are they doing in the present day? This article is part of Football FanCast’s Where Are They Now series.
Well, for many in Scotland, that player was Oliver Burke.
Back in 2016, having made just 31 appearances for Nottingham Forest, Burke was sold to recently promoted RB Leipzig for £13m, a then-record for a Scottish player, but fair to say he never lived up to this hype.
The table below documents the still only 28-year-old’s manic career so far.
Bradford City
2
Zero
Nottingham Forest
31
6
RB Leipzig
26
1
West Bromwich Albion
24
1
Celtic
19
4
Deportivo Alavés
32
1
Sheffield United
36
2
Millwall
31
4
Werder Bremen
46
8
Birmingham City
23
Zero
Union Berlin
5
3
As the table outlines, Burke has played for 12 different clubs in four different countries, yet to score double figures in terms of goals for any of them, which is honestly mind-blowing, with the four he managed during a six-month loan spell at Celtic Park from West Brom in 2019 among his higher tallies.
In hoops, he bagged a brace during his Premiership debut against St Mirren, before also netting during home wins over Hibernian and Motherwell, often deployed as a centre-forward by Neil Lennon, who succeeded Rodgers during this period.
This summer, having previously played for RB Leipzig and Werder Bremen, Burke returned to Germany, joining Union Berlin, and perhaps he could finally fulfil his potential at Stadion An der Alten Försterei.
On Sunday, during die Eisernen’s crazy 4-3 victory over Eintracht Frankfurt at Waldstadion, Burke scored a 24-minute hat-trick, becoming the first Scotsman to ever bag a treble in the Bundesliga – and bettering Iheanacho’s own 2025/26 tally in the process.
Speaking on Sky Sports News, Andy Brassell labelled them “ice-cold finishes”, noting that Union Berlin are playing to Burke’s strengths, which is utilising his pace in-behind, given that he has always been lightning quick.
Burke has remained such an enigma throughout his career; his raw and physical attributes are seemingly what ensures that clubs keep signing him, but as far back as his Leipzig days there were concerns over his tactical awareness, with then manager Ralph Hasenhüttl comparing him to an “empty hard drive” who had a lot to learn.
The most recent of Burke’s 13 Scotland caps came against Israel in Netanya back in November 2020 but, if he continues to score Bundesliga hat-tricks, Steve Clarke will have to pay attention.
Who knows, he could have been an even better emergency centre-forward option for Celtic than Iheanacho will prove to be.
