Benjamin Nygren receives surprising Celtic transfer advice after World Cup debut

15 Jun 2026 17:03 BST | 4 min read

Benjamin Nygren, Viktor Gyokeres, Alexander Isak, Sweden, 2026 — © IMAGO

Tom Weber | Writer

Multilingual sports writer who specialises in European football and American soccer.

Benjamin Nygren started in Sweden's impressive 5-1 demolition of Tunisia at the World Cup, but his Celtic future remains uncertain.

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The 24-year-old is coming off a fairytale season. Nygren was Celtic's top scorer - and by some distance - as they won a Premiership and Scottish Cup double following a thrilling finale to the campaign. Upon closer inspection, though, the picture isn't quite as rosy.

While Celtic would no doubt have been worse off without his 21 goals, Nygren isn't universally beloved. Often used in midfield, his lack of defensive work had a part to play in Celtic needing an almost perfect end to the season to overcome Hearts and defend their Premiership crown.

Current ETV

Benjamin Nygren

M (C), F (R)

Celtic

Benjamin Nygren

M (C), F (R)

Celtic

ETV Range

€7.3M - €9.9M

Celtic have a soft underbelly when Nygren plays in midfield, so it was no surprise that Sweden boss Graham Potter gave him more attacking freedom on his World Cup debut, playing him just behind superstar strikers Alexander Isak and Viktor Gyokeres.

The Scandinavians outplayed and ultimately thrashed Tunisia 5-1, which has cost Sabri Lamouchi his job. Nygren didn't get on the scoresheet, but it was a dream debut for him and featuring on the biggest stage of them all will only boost his value.

Nygren given Celtic advice

This is important to Celtic because Nygren has, naturally, attracted widespread interest courtesy of his impressive attacking performances at Parkhead. Some reports have claimed that the 24-year-old has already decided to depart the Hoops after just one season.

However, Sweden icon Thomas Brolin believes that another year at Celtic could help Nygren become even better. He suggests that, instead of chasing a move to the Premier League, the attacking midfielder should stay put.

"He has had a fantastic development curve at Celtic, and it is probably fantastic to stay there and continue that development curve until the next step when he is ready," Brolin told Hajper.

"Whether that is this year or next year or whatever, I actually don't know. But his curve has been very positive, so then it can be good to stay in the same place for a while longer, too."

Brolin, who knows Celtic well due to his friendship with Henrik Larsson, admits that he somewhat regrets having never played for the Glasgow giants. "Henrik Larsson thrived very well at Celtic, so I probably would have done so at Celtic too since I know Henrik very well.

"So if I were to choose in hindsight - which is very strange - then Celtic sounds like a good club."

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