Reviews of the imminent first arrival of the transfer window at Celtic have varied somewhat since he first came across Scottish radars.
Statistical analysis has had Nicolas Kuhn pegged as the next Angel Di Maria, while some who have watched his displays for Rapid Vienna so far this term fear he may be the next Celtic rough diamond in need of a right good polish.
As a Vienna-based commentator and presenter of popular podcast āThe Other Bundesligaā, which focuses on the Austrian top-flight, Tom Middler has seen plenty of Kuhn, and his educated opinion falls somewhere between those two camps.
Perhaps that is no surprise, as dividing opinion seems something of a speciality of Kuhnās, particularly among the Rapid faithful, who are torn both on his abilities and on the prospect of losing him to the Scottish champions.
āThis Di Maria story is a good one, isnāt it?ā Middler said.
āItās more of a statistical similarity more than anything, it is on paper. You wouldnāt watch Nick Kuhn and think āthereās the next Di Mariaā, necessarily. But there is something in it and itās true that he has got this potential.
āFor whatever reason, we have seen flashes of that, but heās never really been able to unlock it.
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āHeās a massive opinion divider. Heās in the first XI and starting all the time, and you canāt really drop him because he threatens to create so much on the right.
āHeās great with progressive runs, heās a good ball carrier, he takes on dribbles all the time and he has a pretty successful record in attacking dribbles.
āHe gets into the box a lot and he probably has more touches in the opposition area than anybody, but there is just this feeling that he is the focal point of Rapid not doing as well as they should.
āThat has been the story of Rapidās season, they flatter to deceive, basically.ā
Is he simply the unfortunate victim then of the collective malaise of Rapid, and a lightning rod attracting the blame for their shortcomings? Well, yes and no.
āItās not just Kuhn, but Rapid in general, statistically they have been quite good this season,ā Middler continued.
āIf you looked at their chances created, shots on goal, all of that sort of stuff, you would think they must be up there pushing in the top two or three, but they are doing much, much worse than that in reality.
āKuhn is kind of the focal point for that, because he creates a lot, but heās only got two goals this season while his xG is way higher.
āHeās always in these good positions, but he doesnāt finish off well, he doesnāt appear to have a good strikerās instinct at all once he gets into the area.
āHe does set a lot of chances up for teammates in fairness, but they often miss them too! So, itās not been a great year for Rapid so far.ā
It rather sounds then that Kuhn falls into that category that sends shivers up the spines of Celtic supporters at present when it comes to their transfer business, and may well bristle with Brendan Rodgers too - a project.
On the flip side though, Middler believes the 24-year-old may not be all that far away from being able to provide the sort of quality that the Celtic manager craves on a more consistentĀ basis.
āHe is a project player in a sense, but when you look at the stats and when you watch him, thereās not that much missing,ā he said.
āItās the final couple of pieces of the jigsaw that need to be put in place, rather than him needing two or three years of development.
āIt could be the kind of thing where one or two little tweaks could make him into a Celtic first team player very, very soon.
āHe might be a player then who is a bit of a contentious one between Rodgers and the board, but he might also be one who can keep both of them happy, because he isnāt the finished article, but heās almost there.
āHeās still quite young in his career in a sense. He is 24, but he is still just really graduating into senior football.
āSo, I think there is definitely a chance he could blossom. There is definitely that potential under there, you canāt help but notice it when you watch him.
āHe is an instigator of so much. Heās a player that catches the eye, and itās not for nothing that he is in the box so much or that heās in good positions so much.
āYes, heās not a deadly finisher that you would love when the ball is falling to them so often in the box, he doesnāt have that in his game yet.
āBut, still, itās nice to have someone there who is always getting into those positions, that must mean that he does a lot right.
āIf a club like Celtic are happy to take that on and try to tweak him a bit, rather than going for a finished article necessarily, then I definitely do think there is potential.
āHe is fresh in his career, been at good clubs in RB Leipzig, Bayern Munich and Ajax as well, so heās not in the worst shape and I think there is a good chance he could go on and do well.
āIt wouldnāt be the first time that Rapid hasnāt been able to get the most out of a player either. That is a little bit of a theme with Rapid, that they struggle to maximise the potential of their players, they let them go, and then you go on and see that player do really well elsewhere.
āThen there are people at Rapid scratching their heads and wondering why this player who they might have let go for a couple of million is now worth Ā£30m. What happened there?
āHe definitely could be the next one in that line.ā
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What is also encouraging from a Celtic point of view is that he has not allowed the stick he has received from his own fans to deter him, with Middler believing he may therefore have the mental attributes to handle the pressure of expectation he will be under at his new club.
āI think heās handled it fairly well to be honest,ā he said.
āItās obviously hard to say exactly what is going on with him, but he hasnāt shied away from it, put it that way.
āHe still gets out there every week and he is one of those players who keeps plugging away.
āI think the fans do sort of love him and hate him as well. Itās not all anti-Nicolas Kuhn, but he is someone who definitely divides opinion.
āI think he is someone who has kept plugging away, and he hasnāt buried his head in the sand, heās dealt with it pretty well.
āIf you are coming from Rapid, in Austrian terms it might be the best possible example you could get of mirroring the sort of pressure heāll be under at Celtic and what that feels like to be an under pressure Celtic player.ā
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