Following manager Ange Postecoglou’s recent AGM comments about becoming more ruthless in the transfer market, Celtic have now been linked with several strikers.

That comes off the back of reports surrounding Giorgos Giakoumakis's contract and future at Parkhead, with a similar situation emerging with right-back Josip Juranovic.

The Hoops have already brought in Canada international Alistair Johnston to cover any potential Juranovic departure so would a move to bring in an additional striker to offset Giakoumakis moving on be on the cards?

Here, we assess the data of two strikers linked to Celtic to find out which would best fit Postecoglou’s side...

Cho Gue-sung

Cho Gue-sung’s name popped up soon after initial reports regarding Giakoumakis’ contract situation began to surface.

Currently starring for South Korea at the World Cup, Gue-sung finished the top-scorer in his homeland with 14 goals in 26 appearances in the 2022 K League.

The 24-year-old has carried that goalscoring form into the tournament in Qatar too, putting himself in the shop window by becoming the first player to score a brace in South Korea’s World Cup history.

Despite that double coming in a 3-2 defeat to Ghana, South Korea had an impressive 2-1 win over Portugal in their final group game to secure their last 16 spot, with Gue-sung starting two of their three group matches and coming off the bench in the other.

Likely to now make the move to Europe after the World Cup, Postecoglou is reported to be keen on the Jeonbuk Hyundai hitman.

The below chart gives an initial picture of Cho’s profile. Using Wyscout per-90-minute data converted into percentile ranks to compare him with other 2022 K League centre forwards (minimum 800 minutes played), it covers several key attacking, possession and defending metrics.

Celtic Way:

Unsurprisingly, Cho’s goalscoring exploits see him rank highly for goal contributions – he also chipped in with five assists.

He averaged an impressive total of 0.80 goal contributions per 90 (0.59 goals per 90 and 0.21 assists per 90).

Cho was also scoring and providing for his teammates at a sustainable rate too. His expected goals per 90 (0.54) was just a little under his actual goals with his expected assists (0.15 per 90) also just under his actual assists.

His other underlying attacking numbers are equally impressive - he attempted over three shots per 90 (3.31) while he boasted a high shots-on-target percentage (46.88 per cent). He also ranked above the 75th percentile for the number of touches in the box per 90 (4.61).

The possession section shows that Cho is likely quite involved in his side’s build-up, receiving an average of 14.67 passes per 90.

Although he ranks just below average for progressive passes (1.76 per 90), he ranks above average for his dangerous passes, a combination of key passes and through passes – Cho registered 0.59 key per 90 and 0.31 through per 90 last season in the K League.

Coupled with his assists/expected assists numbers, these possession ranks highlight that Cho is likely capable of not only getting on the end of things but also providing plenty of ammunition for his team-mates.

On the other possession metric included here, carries, a combination of dribbles per 90 and progressive runs per 90, Cho ranked just inside the top quarter of all K League strikers in terms of volume. He had 3.1 dribbles per 90 and 1.27 progressive runs per 90.

Defensively, he was involved in a below-average number of defensive duels per 90 for a striker in South Korea’s top tier, involved in 2.51, with a win rate of 49.32 per cent.

At 6ft 2in, Cho was more active in aerial duels than defensive duels, involved in 5.82 per 90 with an above-average win rate of 40.24 per cent.

His ability in the air has been even more impressive in Qatar though. Admittedly a very small sample size, he does boast the most aerials won (18) in the whole tournament to date, according to FBref, winning 62.1 per cent of all aerial duels he has been involved in.

He does appear to be active off the ball in terms of interceptions too, ranking just outside the top quartile for possession-adjusted interceptions (2.83 per 90).

Celtic Way:

Said Hamulic

Plying his trade in Poland for Stal Mielec, Said Hamulic has nine goals and four assists in 17 Ekstraklasa appearances so far this season.

A few years younger than Gue-sung the Dutch frontman, who is also around 6ft 2in, is reported to have suitors from both the Eredivisie and Serie A due to his form in Poland’s top flight.

Reports though cite Celtic as being another club that are very much active in the race for Hamulic, who is eligible to play for the Netherlands and Bosnia and Herzegovina due to dual citizenship.

The below chart gives an initial picture of his profile. Using Wyscout per-90-minute data converted into percentile ranks to compare him with other Ekstraklasa centre forwards (minimum 500 minutes played), it covers the same key attacking, possession and defending metrics.

Celtic Way:

Like Gue-seng, finding the net regularly sees Hamulic rank highly in many of his attacking metrics.

His scoring rate has worked out at 0.60 per 90 while his assists per 90 currently sits at 0.13 per 90, giving him an impressive total goal contribution number of 0.73 per 90.

He has slightly overperformed to date in the league this season though with both his expected goals (0.46 per 90) and expected assists (0.04 per 90) a bit less than his actual output in both. However, his overall expected goal contribution per 90 of 0.50 is still solid and sees him rank in the 75th percentile.

In terms of other attacking metrics, he also ranks highly for shots (3.16 per 90), his shots-on-target percentage (48.96 per cent) and touches in the box (4.63 per 90).

In the possession section, Hamulic does not rank very highly for progressive passes or dangerous passes. He does not, on average, receive the ball as often, if we care to compare directly to Gue-seng.

His carries rank certainly stands out - not only in this section but in his whole chart.

Hamulic has more carries than any other centre forward in the Polish Ekstraklasa, averaging 4.77 dribbles per 90 and 2.15 progressive runs per 90. In the context of his lower passing metrics, it seems carrying is his preferred method of progressing the ball when tasked with doing so.

This may well be down to Hamulic playing as a winger previously in his career, he played there on several occasions for his previous club Suduva in 2021-22 for example.

He has played exclusively up front for Stal Mielec this season though so he has clearly ‘carried’ this trait into his centre-forward play.

Defensively, Hamulic is not involved in a huge amount of defensive duels (1.48 per 90) but does have a decent win rate when he is involved (54.55 per cent).

In terms of aerial duels, he has contested an average of 5.04 per 90 so far this season with a 32 per cent win rate. His 1.1 possession-adjusted interceptions is also quite low in comparison to other strikers in the league.

Conclusion

Different sample sizes make a direct comparison between these two tricky, they also appear to have slightly different profiles.

This should not be a surprise in itself as, despite having a very well-defined system, Postecoglou has previously spoken of the advantages of having players with contrasting strengths in each position anyway.

However, going by the data, there is a case to be made that Cho is on paper the more rounded striker of the two.

Prolific and seemingly able to provide for his team-mates too, he has higher received passes and higher dangerous passes into the bargain, pointing to him perhaps being a more multi-dimensional striker than Giakoumakis, who has just one assist to his name during his Celtic career (Wyscout).

A couple of years older than Hamulic, the South Korean striker may well have the quality to come in and quickly challenge Kyogo for the top striker spot.

Hamulic has, in must be said, an interesting profile and would certainly bring something to the table.

His data suggests he is a direct threat who also certainly knows where the goal is as well. His high numbers for ball-carrying suggest he could potentially offer a more mobile option compared to Giakoumakis.

With two exciting options potentially on the table, it will be fascinating to see if either Cho or Hamulic end up in the Hoops next month whether it be as a replacement for Giakoumakis or alongside him.

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