Tomas Cvankara: Sparta star outcast from Gladbach – Who is Celtic’s new striker?

For any club to get £9m for your services, you must have done something right. Cvankara, who has eight caps, did a lot of things right at Sparta.

At his best in the Czech First Division, the 6ft 3in striker used his presence, pace and power to devastating effect, while also being decisive.

He scored 24 goals in 39 matches, with a goals-per-minute rate of around 131, sparking the interest of Gladbach, who brought Cvankara to the Bundesliga in the summer of 2023.

The striker’s career stopped in Germany, where he scored only eight goals in 54 matches, most of which came from the bench.

But his time at Mönchengladbach will be remembered for being at the center of an extraordinary team dispute at the end of a challenging season last year.

It was claimed that Chankara had a disruptive influence in the dressing room and that his teammates demanded his exclusion from the team.

The striker responded by admitting he was unhappy at the club and revealing he wanted to go out on loan, a statement the club’s then sporting director described as a “mistake”.

This wasn’t the first time the attacker felt the need to defend his character publicly. “People say I’ve lost my mind and that I lack humility,” he said two years ago.

“However, none of them know me personally. None of them have ever asked me what I have been through in my life and why I am the way I am on the field and in life.”

Amid one of the fiercest seasons in Scottish football in recent memory, and with new major shareholders at his club, the hope for Cvankara is that he can restore calm and form to a Celtic side torn apart and embroiled in Premier League chaos.

“He’s not really a target guy,” O’Neill said. “He’s not a John Hartson type.

“He’s fast and agile and wants to prove himself. But if you think he’s the instant solution to any problem we have, I’m not sure I want to put that kind of responsibility on him.”

Kavankara’s first stint in Scotland is likely to be the visit of leaders Hearts on Sunday, a game packed with pressure for the defending champions.