Teemu Pukki was born in Kotka on 29 March 1990 (age 36), a Finland striker whose career has taken a few turns before settling into a recognisable shape. As a young forward, an early spell away from his parent club brought a debut goal, the sort of small marker that tends to matter more in hindsight than it did at the time.
Celtic signed him from Schalke 04 in August 2013 for around ยฃ3m. He arrived with a decent reputation and enough pedigree to make the move understandable, but his time in Glasgow never quite caught. There were flashes, but not enough of them, and Celtic moved him on to Brondby in July 2015 for around ยฃ600,000.
That spell in Denmark helped him rebuild. After leaving Celtic he had periods with Brondby and Minnesota United, but Norwich City was where his career found a more convincing rhythm. His 2018-19 league season there was the standout: 29 goals in 43 appearances, a level of output that made plain what had only appeared in patches earlier in his career.
Pukki is now back in Finland with HJK, primarily playing as a striker and wearing the number 20 shirt. In 2026 he has made 14 appearances and scored four goals for the club in all competitions, including three in 10 Veikkausliiga matches and one in Conference League qualifying. He has also remained involved with Finland, making four appearances in European World Cup qualifying this season.
His career has not been a straight line: Schalke to Celtic, a reset at Brondby, a fuller flowering at Norwich, and now HJK. Celtic got a forward with ability, but not the version that later made his name elsewhere.
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