Speaking after a summer of intense speculation, the talented £7.5 million forward insisted that he did not, contrary to some reports, open talks with Celtic regarding a move to the Scottish Premiership champions back in 2023.
“I didn’t read the articles,” he told Tipsbladet. “They just popped up when I scrolled through social media. So I couldn’t avoid seeing that occasionally there was a picture of me, and then something about Celtic.
“I haven’t talked to them.”
That, however, could change when the window opens again in a matter of weeks, even if Mathias Kvistgaarden‘s rather miserly goals return and a season-ending knee injury may raise questions about whether the Dane would be a £7.5 million risk worth taking.
Celtic may look to sign Mathias Kvistgaarden again
According to Tipsbladet, Kvistgaarden will have an operation to correct his knee issue. As such, he is expected to miss around six weeks of action. Does this mean he has played his final game for Danish giants Brondby?
“That’s a good question,” muses Jesper Sorensen, Brondby’s head coach. “I hope not, but we’ll have to see. I don’t really have any idea what time will bring.”
Sorensen certainly has no concerns over Kvistgaarden’s output. A tally of seven goals in 20 league games is unlikely to get hairs standing up on end over at Parkhead, but Kvistgaarden should not be judged on goals alone.
He’s set up as many as he’s scored this season, after all. And when you phrase the numbers a little differently – 14 ‘goal contributions’ in 20 games – the story looks a little different.
“He has had a really strong autumn and has looked like someone who has really been on the verge of having an even bigger spring. But it wasn’t to be that way for him,” Sorensen adds, Kvistgaarden’s injury denying title-chasing Brondby of one of their star men at a crucial juncture of the campaign.
“I have told him that it is a shame for him and a shame for him, because he has looked really nice and has been in a fantastic development. But I have also told him that he will come back even stronger.
“It is a minor bump on a long and good road for him.”
Danish striker should not be judged on his goals tally
Presuming Kvistgaarden suffers no long-term effects from the knee issue, a move to the green side of Glasgow may still be on the cards. The former Denmark under 21 international – a potential replacement for the on-loan Adam Idah – has already labelled a potential move to a ‘huge club’ in Celtic ‘insanely exciting’.
Now, Hoops fans might not be so glowing in their assessment of a striker who has only managed 20 goals in 62 games across the last two seasons in a league of similar quality to the Scottish Premiership.
But while Kvistgaarden may not be an ‘insanely exciting’ addition capable of getting pulses racing by a sheer volume of numbers, Scandinavian football expert Mikkel Bischoff explains why this hard-running, sweat-shedding ‘warrior’ of a forward deserves to be judged not just on his goals’ tally.
“I think he is (Brondby’s) best striker,” Bischoff says. “This is a player who will most likely be sold for a lot of money this summer.
“He is a player who has developed tremendously. I remember the first games we saw him in the Superliga, where he ran around and was completely done after half a game because he wanted to be (involved) in it all.
“He still travels around and makes his mark. He drops deep and into the opponents, and he is a warrior. But he has also become more cold-blooded. Especially in the the final third.”