Celtic were in the market to land a new centre-forward to bolster their options at the top end of the pitch during the recent January transfer window.
Brendan Rodgers eventually landed Norwich City marksman Adam Idah on loan on deadline day, with no options to buy, after having been linked with a move for Bologna striker Sydney van Hooijdonk, who went on to sign for the Canaries to replace the player the Hoops signed.
The Dutch number nine is the son of former Bhoys sensation Pierre van Hooijdonk, who the club hit the jackpot with during his time at Parkhead.
Celtic struck gold when they swooped to sign the attacker from Dutch side NAC Breda in January 1995 to improve then-manager Tommy Burns’ attacking options.
How much Celtic paid for Pierre van Hooijdonk
The Hoops signed the Netherlands international for a reported fee of £1.2m and the impressive marksman produced four goals in 14 Scottish Premiership matches.
Van Hooijdonk followed that up with a staggering 26 goals in 34 Premiership matches during the 1995/96 campaign, to take his tally to 30 league goals in his first 18 months at the club.
The then-26-year-old fired in 14 goals in 21 league appearances for the Scottish giants during the first half of the 1996/97 campaign before a move to Nottingham Forest in March 1997.
In total, the 6 foot 4 colossus moved on from Celtic with a fantastic return of 52 goals in 84 games in all competitions, which is a goal every 1.62 matches on average across his just-over two-year spell in Glasgow.
How much did Celtic sell Pierre van Hooijdonk for in 2024 money
Per Totally Money, Premier League side Nottingham Forest splashed out a fee of £5.4m at the time of the deal to bring him down south to England in 1997.
Totally Money have taken the 100 most expensive transfers of all time across each season since 1992 in Europe’s top five leagues. Armed with plenty of historical financial data they have calculated what footballers of yesteryear would be worth in the present day after taking into account the remarkable rate of inflation.
Adjusting for the inflation of transfer fees in football over the subsequent years, per Totally Money’s index, that £5.4m fee would be worth a staggering £39.4m, which illustrates how much of a blinder the Hoops played with the signing of van Hooijdonk back in 1995.
They struck gold with the prolific marksman as they made a healthy profit on the 52-goal forward, who was a star on the pitch and made them a huge sum of money by the time he moved on from Parkhead.
| Nottingham Forest career | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Pierre van Hooijdonk | Appearances | Goals | Assists |
| 1996/97 (Premier League) | 8 | 1 | 0 |
| 1997/98 (First Division) | 39 | 29 | 0 |
| 1998/99 (Premier League) | 21 | 6 | 2 |
| Stats via Transfermarkt | |||
As you can see in the table above, van Hooijdonk failed to replicate his goalscoring prowess in Scotland in the Premier League with the Tricky Trees, with a return of seven goals in 29 games in the English top-flight.
The Netherlands international went on to enjoy spells with Benfica, Vitesse, Fenerbahce, and Feyenoord after his time with Forest, before his retirement in the summer of 2007.
Overall, Celtic hit the jackpot with van Hooijdonk as they got immense value out of him on and off the pitch after his £1.2m move from NAC Breda back in 1995, and it remains to be seen whether Sydney – now at Norwich – will be able to hit the same heights as his father during his career.
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