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Celtic flop who quit Hoops 11 years ago to bow out of football after four-game swansong as he bids emotional farewell

FORMER Celtic flop Teemu Pukki will call time on his 20-year professional football career next month.

The Finland legend has decided his time in the game is up at the age of 36 and wants to bow out after four more matches in his homeland.

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Teemu Pukki endured a difficult spell in Scotland
UEFA Conference League qualifiers - HJK Helsinki vs Coleraine FC
He is set to retire after four more games in Finland

Pukki was a £3million signing from Schalke for Celtic in 2013, brought in to replace Gary Hooper after his departure for Norwich City.

But despite netting in his first two games in Scotland against Hearts and St Johnstone, his opening season at Parkhead was viewed as a major disappointment as he scored just seven goals in 32 appearances.

He came nowhere near emulating Hooper’s 31-goal tally from the previous campaign.

Pukki was subsequently shipped out on loan to Brondby at the start of September 2014 after scoring twice in five games at the beginning of that campaign for the Hoops, who then made the deal permanent the following summer.

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His spell at Celtic was brief, but given the transfer fee involved, he stands among a long list of strikers who failed to deliver at the club during that time.

However, his difficult stint in Glasgow didn’t stop him reaching the game’s top level.

After four impressive seasons at Brondby, he was given the opportunity to return to the UK with Norwich City — ironically the very club Hooper had left Celtic for years prior.

Pukki went on to become a club legend at Carrow Road, scoring 29 goals in his debut season in the Championship before racking up a total of 88 goals in 210 games across all competitions for the Canaries over five seasons.

After leaving Norwich in 2023, he spent two years in MLS with Minnesota United before opting to return to his homeland with former club HJK Helsinki.

He scored 21 goals in 39 games during his first season back and has netted nine goals in 19 appearances so far this term — including three goals in four Conference League qualifiers, one of which came against Motherwell.

There are just four games remaining in the 2026 season for Helsinki, and Pukki has decided to hang up his boots following their final fixture against AC Oulu on November 8.

A statement from the Finnish outfit read: “Teemu Pukki , 36, will end his long and successful playing career this fall. The national team’s all-time leading scorer will hang up his boots after the final round of the league season in November. Pukki has four matches left in his professional career.

“Pukki will bid farewell to the audience in the HJK shirt in the final round of the Veikkausliiga against AC Oulu on November 8th.”

Pukki added: “It’s time to say goodbye to professional football after this season. I still have four games left in my career, and I want to win those games.”

The striker scored 43 goals in 133 caps for Finland.

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