Rasmussen, Morten – The Celtic Wiki

Personal

Fullname: Morten Nicolas Rasmussen
aka: Morten Rasmussen, Duncan
Born: 31 Jan 1985
Birthplace: Copenhagen, Denmark
Signed: 26 Jan 2010 (est £1.5m)
Loaned out: 20 Aug 2010
Left: 1 Aug 2012 (to FC Midtjylland (Denmark), est £250k)
Position: Centre-forward
Debut: Celtic 1-2 Hibernian, League, 27 Jan 2010
Internationals: Denmark
International Caps: 13
International Goals: 4

Biog

Danish international striker Morten Rasmussen signed for the Hoops in January 2010 from Brondby as Bhoys boss Tony Mowbrary oversaw a massive overhaul of his squad.

Celtic paid a reported fee of between £1M and £1.5M for the 24-year-old forward who agreed a 3-and-a-half-year deal at Parkhead. A former Danish U19 Player of the Year, Morten had previously been known by the nickname ‘Duncan‘ due to similarities in physique and style to ex-Rangers striker Duncan Ferguson. It was a nickname he would quickly abandon on arrival at Celtic Park.

Morten would make his debut as a substitute when he came off the bench to replace Georgios Samaras on the hour mark in a 2-1 league defeat at home to Hibernian on January 27th. He was on the bench a few days later at Hamilton but this time there was a much happier ending when the Dane took to the field in the second half and netted the winner.

His first start for the Hoops came on February 7th when he started the Scottish Cup tie at Dunfermline. A fine forward’s performance was rewarded with a goal as Celtic progressed 4-2.

However, he was not given a fair opportunity to prove himself further. A change of manager to Neil Lennon from the hapless Tony Mowbray, didn’t seem to favour him but in fairness with Robbie Keane in the squad, it was never likely for Rasmussen to upstage him. It was hoped by keep playing Keane that would entice Keane to stay at Celtic, and Rasmussen would be tried out next season. Keane didn’t end up staying yet Rasmusssen was still not used much further.

Rasmussen ended up with just four starts in his first 6 months in 2009-10 (2 league and 2 cup) with the rest being a large bulk of substitutions. He scored three goals, and many felt he was better than the stats implied. He had good positional sense and some would say he was better than some of the other strikers Celtic had during his short time to prove himself, although he was more an end-ball man, not someone to graft to create the goals and provide chances for others.

Many felt he deserved a bit more of a chance but Lennon was rebuilding the squad and Rasmussen was not part of his plans. Stokes, Samaras and Hooper were far preferred, and in retrospect the decision turned out to be correct.

On 20th August 2010, Rasmussen was loaned out to Mainz with an option to buy. However, despite a promising start, he quickly fell out of favour and was loaned out to Danish side Aalborg in February 2011 for the rest of the season.

Once again, on 5th September 2011, Morten was loaned out to Turkish club Sivasspor after it became clear that he was not in the manager’s plans for the new season.

A pattern was repeating itself and his move to Sivasspor also failed. It was increasingly clear that Lennon (despite the contrary view earlier from various Celtic fans) was right to drop Rasmussen from the first team and loan him out. He was not settling and making a name anywhere despite earlier promise.

It wasn’t to be for Rasmussen, and there was not much of a peep from the support on his leaving. The more charitable believe that he should have been given a further opportunity. In a general clear-out he was transferred out in August 2012 back to Denmark.

We wished him the best.

Post-Celtic

After Celtic he moved to Midjytlland & AGF, and helped Midjytlland to a league title. He had a fine scoring record for both, and then wrapped up his time following spells in Poland and Cyprus.

He retired from play at the end of season 2018-19, and moved into coaching.

Playing Career

APPEARANCES	LEAGUE	SCOTTISH CUP	LEAGUE CUP	EUROPE	TOTAL
2010-2012	10	3	0	0	13
Goals	2	1	0	0	3

CLUB	FROM	TO	FEE	LEAGUE		Scottish/FA CUP		LGE CUP		OTHER
				APPS	GLS	APPS	GLS	APPS	GLS	APPS	GLS
Sivasspor	01-Jul-11	01-Jun-12	Loan	No appearance data available
Aalborg	01-Feb-11	31-May-11	Loan	No appearance data available
Mainz	19-Aug-10	31-Jan-11	Loan	3 (2)	2	0 (0)	0	0 (0)	0	0 (0)	0
Celtic	26-Jan-10	01-Aug-12		2 (8)	2	2 (1)	1	0 (0)	0	0 (0)	0

Honours with Celtic

none

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Articles

[Official]
CELTIC Football Club is delighted to announce that they have concluded the signing of Danish internationalist Morten Rasmussen.

The striker will be unveiled at a press conference at Lennoxtown on Tuesday afternoon.

Formerly of Brondby, Morten has signed a three-and-a-half year deal with Celtic.

Official: Mainz loan Morten Rasmussen from Celtic with option of a permanent deal

The Dane has gone to the Bundesliga…

By Robin Bairner

20 Aug 2010 13:00:00

Mainz have confirmed the signing of Celtic striker Morten Rasmussen for the duration of the season via their official website, while the Scottish club’s site also has a note confirming the deal.

Rasmussen only joined the Bhoys in January, signing from Brondby, but mustered only five league appearances for the Parkhead club, scoring on two occasions. Seemingly out of the picture in manager Neil Lennon’s mind, he has been allowed to try his luck in the Bundesliga.

The striker passed a medical on Thursday and has signed a one-year loan agreement that has the option for Mainz to buy out the 25-year-old’s contract with the SPL side and sign him on for a further three years, taking him through to 2014.

“Morten Rasmussen is a player who has an eerie presence on the pitch,” manager Christian Heidel explained. “He is used in attack either as a lone striker or as a second forward.”

The former AGF hitman has three Denmark international caps to his name.

Morten Rasmussen keen to sort out Celtic future after ending loan with Sivasspor

Dec 22 2011 by Alan Marshall

MORTEN RASMUSSEN will hold crunch talks over his Celtic future early next month.

The Danish striker’s loan with Sivasspor ended last night and the Turks will not be extending his deal after he netted just three times in 11 appearances.

Rasmussen, 26, will now spend Christmas at home in Denmark before heading back to Parkhead on January 1.

The £1.1million flop still has 18 months left on his Hoops contract and wants his future sorted out quickly when he returns.
He said: “I will be back in January and will hold talks with Celtic as soon as possible.

“Nothing has been said so far – I’m waiting to find out.

“As things stand, I will be coming back to train with the squad but I don’t know what the club have planned for me. “If Celtic want me to stay then I will train hard, do my best and try to get in the team.”

Rasmussen does not seem to feature in Neil Lennon’s long-term plans but the Dane has made it clear he doesn’t fancy another loan move after being farmed out to Mainz, Aalborg and Sivasspor.

He said: “I have been in this situation for a while but it’s not ideal. I just have to wait and see what January brings. It would be good to get my future sorted.”

Rasmussen’s departure from Turkey came just days after Kris Boyd left Eskisehirspor.

And he was shocked to see the former Rangers striker leave the Turkish club so soon.

Rasmussen said: “I read about Boyd leaving and it surprised me as he only joined in the summer.

“But Turkey is nothing like Scotland and Denmark. It can be hard to settle there.”

Morten Rasmussen leaves Celtic to sign for FC Midtjylland in Denmark

STV

Morten Rasmussen has left Celtic to return to his native Denmark, agreeing a switch to FC Midtjylland.

The striker has signed a four year contract at the MCH Arena, ending a spell with Glasgow that saw him unable to make an impression in the first team at Parkhead. The transfer fee has not been disclosed.

Rasmussen had joined Celtic in 2010, with then manager Tony Mowbray spending a seven figure sum to attract a player who had been a prolific scorer with Brondby.

The forward, who has five international caps, failed to win a regular starting spot and when Mowbray left Parkhead, Rasmussen found himself on the sidelines as he did not fit in Neil Lennon’s plans.

Subsequent loan spells at Mainz, AaB and Sivasspor proved largely unsuccessful and though the player stated on several occasions his intention to fight for his place at Celtic, it was made clear that he was free to find another club.

The forward will now look to rebuild his career in the Superliga, where he was a regular goalscorer with AGF and Brondby.

Rasmussen told Midtjyllands official website: “FCM is an exciting club that plays attractive, offensive football.

“It is a club that is fighting for the top spots, and it is a style of play that will benefit me.”