Chris Sutton aims jibe at Sunderland in cutting assessment of Newcastle United transfer target

The ex-Celtic striker has been speaking about Nicolas Kuhn.

Former Celtic striker Chris Sutton has aimed a casual jibe at Sunderland during an assessment of current Hoops talent Nicolas Kuhn.

The German signed for the Scottish champions from Rapid Vienna last January, and after a relatively slow start to life in Glasgow, began the 2024/25 campaign in electric form. At the time of writing, he has registered 18 goals and 14 assists across 44 matches so far this term. Those figures only tell half a story, however, with the winger having found the back of the net just twice since January 5th - once in a 6-0 Scottish Premiership drubbing of Dundee, and once in a battling 1-1 draw with former club Bayern Munich in the Champions League.

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And in response to Kuhn’s recent dip in output, outspoken pundit Sutton has pulled no punches in his assessment of the Celtic star, while also sending a stray swipe in Sunderland’s direction.

What did Chris Sutton say about Celtic winger Nicolas Kuhn and Sunderland?

In his regular column for the Daily Record, Sutton referred to transfer reports linking Newcastle United with a swoop for Kuhn in his illustration of just how much the 25-year-old has dropped off recently. According to online outlet Football Insider, the Magpies have been actively scouting the wide man this season, but Sutton has since suggested that any lingering interest will have likely been quelled by the Celtic attacker’s recent showings.

He said: “You’re waiting for Celtic to go back up through the gears [after recent bad form] – but they can’t just assume it will happen. That’s what seems to be going on with Nicolas Kuhn. You don’t want to single out players but there has been a huge drop off with the German.

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“It smacks to me as an attitude thing. He looks like a player who thought he’d cracked it and everything would just fall into place for him. But you need to put in the work and we haven’t seen enough of it lately. Back in December there was talk about Newcastle United considering a bid and it was by no means a stretch of the imagination.”

Sutton then added: “He’d be lucky if Sunderland came in for him on recent form. You can bet teams like Newcastle would have been watching him back then. The thing is though, they will continue to watch and they won’t have been too impressed with his application of late.”

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