Nicolas-Gerrit Kühn (born 1 January 2000) is a German professional footballer who plays as a winger or forward for Scottish Premiership club Celtic.

Nicolas Kühn
Kühn training with Celtic in 2024
Personal information
Full name Nicolas-Gerrit Kühn
Date of birth (2000-01-01) 1 January 2000 (age 24)
Place of birth Wunstorf, Germany
Height 1.75 m (5 ft 9 in)[1]
Position(s) Winger, forward
Team information
Current team
Celtic
Number 10
Youth career
TSV Klein Heidorn
1. FC Wunstorf
2009–2011 FC St. Pauli
2011–2015 Hannover 96
2015–2018 RB Leipzig
Senior career*
Years Team Apps (Gls)
2018–2020 Jong Ajax 43 (5)
2020 Ajax 0 (0)
2020Bayern Munich II (loan) 16 (2)
2020–2022 Bayern Munich II 21 (4)
2021–2022Erzgebirge Aue (loan) 27 (3)
2022–2024 Rapid Wien 36 (5)
2024– Celtic 23 (5)
International career
2015 Germany U15 2 (1)
2015–2016 Germany U16 5 (4)
2016–2017 Germany U17 12 (9)
2018 Germany U18 2 (2)
2018–2019 Germany U19 7 (1)
2019 Germany U20 4 (2)
*Club domestic league appearances and goals, correct as of 17:12, 27 October 2024 (UTC)
‡ National team caps and goals, correct as of 15:42, 1 July 2020 (UTC)

Club career

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Early years

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Born in Wunstorf, Hanover Region,[2] Kühn began playing football at TSV Klein Heidorn and 1. FC Wunstorf,[3] before joining the youth academy of FC St. Pauli, where he played for two years.[1][4] In 2011, Kühn moved to Hannover 96, where he joined the U13 team. In the 2014–15 season, at the age of 15, he had already made two appearances for their U17 team in the Under 17 Bundesliga.[5] For the 2015–16 season, Kühn moved to the U17 team of RB Leipzig,[6] for whom he scored 18 goals in 22 appearances in the Under 17 Bundesliga. In the 2016–17 season, the striker scored 6 goals in 13 matches in the Under 17 Bundesliga, but fell out with a high ankle sprain. Upon his return for the second half of the season, he was already a part of the team competing in the Under 19 Bundesliga.[1] In the 2017–18 season he was permanently moved up to the U19-team, for whom he also competed in the UEFA Youth League, and regularly trained with the first team.[7]

Ajax

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Kühn signed for Dutch club Ajax from RB Leipzig in January 2018 for a fee of €2 million.[8] He became part of the second team, Jong Ajax, making 5 appearances in the second-tier Eerste Divisie in the 2017–18 season as the team became league champions. He was also utilised for the U19-team. In the 2018–19 season, Kühn made 21 appearances in the Eerste Divisie, in which he scored 5 goals. He also made 6 appearances for the U19s in the UEFA Youth League, in which he scored 6 goals, and 5 appearances in the domestic under-19 league, where he scored 2 goals. In the first half of the 2019–20 season, Kühn made 17 Eerste Divisie appearances in which he scored 3 goals.[2]

Bayern Munich

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In January 2020, Kühn moved on loan to FC Bayern Munich for six months.[9][10] The move was made permanent on 14 July 2020, when Kühn signed a three-year contract and was placed in the reserve team Bayern Munich II.[11][12]

In June 2021, Kühn moved on loan for the 2021–22 season to Erzgebirge Aue, with an option to purchase, however the team was relegated and did not activate the option.[13][14]

Rapid Wien

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In May 2022, Kühn left Bayern Munich, and joined Austrian Bundesliga club Rapid Wien for a €500,000 reported fee.[15]

Celtic

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On 16 January 2024, Kühn signed a five-and-a-half-year contract with Scottish Premiership club Celtic, for a fee reported to be around £3 million.[16][17][18] On 27 January 2024, Kühn made his debut coming on as a sub against Ross County.[19] On 3 February 2024, Kühn scored his first goal for Celtic in a 1–1 draw against Aberdeen.[20]

On 5 November 2024 in the UEFA Champions League as part of a 3–1 Celtic win, Kühn scored two goals against RB Leipzig, with whom he had played at youth team level.[21] Following the match, he was described by the BBC as "one of the most important players in the Celtic team".[22]

International career

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Kühn has played at every youth age group for Germany from under-15 to under-19.[5]

Style of play

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Kühn was described by the Bundesliga website as "a player who loves nothing more than to have the ball at his feet and dribble at his opponents, Kühn resembles a Coman type of player. With a high level of confidence, Kühn is not afraid to take risks by seeking one-on-ones and taking on his opponents, using his pace and excellent close control to deadly effect. Kühn is also a rather rare commodity in being left-footed, but he is equally at home on the left or the right, or even behind the strikers as a support man."[23]

Career statistics

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As of match played 5 November 2024[2]
Appearances and goals by club, season and competition
Club Season League National cup[a] League cup[b] Europe Total
Division Apps Goals Apps Goals Apps Goals Apps Goals Apps Goals
Jong Ajax 2017–18 Eerste Divisie 5 0 5 0
2018–19 Eerste Divisie 21 2 21 2
2019–20 Eerste Divisie 17 3 17 3
Total 43 5 43 5
Bayern Munich II (loan) 2019–20 3. Liga 16 2 16 2
Bayern Munich II 2020–21 3. Liga 21 4 21 4
Erzgebirge Aue (loan) 2021–22 2. Bundesliga 27 3 0 0 27 3
Rapid Vienna 2022–23 Austrian Bundesliga 20 3 3 0 6[c] 1 29 4
2023–24 Austrian Bundesliga 16 2 3 1 3[c] 0 22 3
Total 36 5 6 1 9 1 51 7
Celtic 2023–24 Scottish Premiership 14 2 4 1 18 3
2024–25 Scottish Premiership 9 3 0 0 3 4 4[d] 2 16 9
Total 23 5 4 1 3 4 4 2 34 12
Career total 166 24 10 2 3 4 13 3 192 33

Honours

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Jong Ajax

Bayern Munich II

Celtic

Individual

References

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  1. ^ a b c Rahe, Dominic (July 2017). "Wird er der erste "Bundesliga"-Bulle aus dem Stall von RB Leipzig?" (PDF). NFV (in German). No. 7. Barsinghausen. pp. 8–10. Retrieved 20 October 2020.
  2. ^ a b c Nicolas Kühn at Soccerway. Retrieved 23 January 2020.
  3. ^ Tugendheim, Albert (16 June 2018). "Jetzt darf Fußball-Profi auch Auto fahren". haz.de. Hannoversche Allgemeine Zeitung. Retrieved 1 July 2020.
  4. ^ "Ex-St. Pauli-Talent wechselt zum FC Bayern". Hamburger Morgenpost (in German). 15 July 2020. Retrieved 20 October 2020.
  5. ^ a b "Nicolas Kühn – Spielerprofil". dfb.de. German Football Association. Retrieved 20 October 2020.
  6. ^ "Leipzig schnappt Buli-Klub Ausnahme-Talent weg". T-Online (in German). 1 July 2015. Retrieved 20 October 2020.
  7. ^ "Vier Spieler von RB Leipzig fahren zur Weltmeisterschaft". rblive.de (in German). RB Leipzig. 20 September 2017. Retrieved 20 October 2020.
  8. ^ "El Ajax ficha a su primer 'millennial'" (in Spanish). Sport.es. 18 January 2018. Retrieved 19 September 2018.
  9. ^ "Ajax verhuurt Kühn aan Bayern München". Ajax.
  10. ^ Duit, Nino (20 January 2020). "FCB-Neuzugang Nicolas Kühn im Porträt: "Passt perfekt zum FC Bayern"". spox.com. Retrieved 1 July 2020.
  11. ^ a b "Nach Leihe: FC Bayern verpflichtet Kühn fest". kicker.de. kicker. 14 July 2020. Retrieved 5 August 2020.
  12. ^ a b "Kühn vertrekt definitief naar Bayern München". ajax.nl (in Dutch). Ajax. 14 July 2020. Retrieved 20 October 2020. In totaal kwam Kühn 43 keer in actie voor het beloftenelftal en scoorde daarin 5 keer. Met Jong Ajax werd hij in 2018 kampioen van de Eerste Divisie.
  13. ^ e.V, FC Erzgebirge Aue. "Nicolas-Gerrit Kühn auf Leihbasis von München ins Erzgebirge". www.fc-erzgebirge.de.
  14. ^ "2. Bundesliga: Erzgebirge Aue holt Offensiv-Talent Kühn vom FC Bayern | MDR.DE". www.mdr.de.
  15. ^ "Nicolas Kühn wechselt zu Rapid Wien". FC Bayern (in German). 26 May 2022. Retrieved 27 April 2024.
  16. ^ "Nicolas Kuhn signs for Celtic". Celtic FC. 16 January 2024. Retrieved 19 January 2024.
  17. ^ ""I am really motivated to do well for this great club," Nicolas Kuhn". OneFootball. 17 January 2024. Retrieved 19 January 2024.
  18. ^ "Celtic sign German winger Kuhn from Rapid Vienna". BBC Sport.
  19. ^ "Celtic 1–0 Ross County: Johnston's deflected effort wins it for league leaders". BBC Sport. 27 February 2024. Retrieved 11 July 2024.
  20. ^ "Aberdeen 1–1 Celtic: Leaders have 'dropped too many points' in games, says Brendan Rodgers". BBC Sport. 3 February 2024. Retrieved 11 July 2024.
  21. ^ Petrie, Andrew (3 February 2024). "How Kuhn is 'showing Celtic what he's got'". BBC Sport. Retrieved 5 November 2024.
  22. ^ Canavan, Amy (6 November 2024). "Celtic 3-1 RB Leipzig: Nicolas Kuhn shows class with Champions League goals". BBC Sport.
  23. ^ "Nicolas Kühn: Who is the latest U19 award winner at Bayern Munich?". bundesliga.com – the official Bundesliga website.
  24. ^ "Watch Celtic celebrate after winning Scottish Premiership title". BBC Sport. 15 May 2024.
  25. ^ "Celtic v Rangers: Watch Old Firm Scottish Cup final at Hampden". BBC Sport.
  26. ^ "Fritz-Walter-Medaille in Gold an Kühn, Bühl und Adeyemi" (in German). German Football Association. 6 September 2019. Retrieved 21 May 2020.