CEltic's new centre-forward is Swedish, has great self-belief and a reputation for goalscoring exploits with Feyenoord.

If that sounds familiar it is because John Guidetti seems to have much in common with compatriot Henrik Larsson.

In fact, Guidetti's 20 goals in 23 games for Feyenoord in 2011/12 were more than Larsson managed in any of his four seasons with the Dutch side. His personal best in Rotterdam was 16 in all competitions during his second season in the Netherlands.

The road to Parkhead has been anything but straightforward for young Guidetti, just as it proved for his countryman more than 15 years ago. In his 2001 autobiography A Season in Paradise, Larsson wrote of how a move to Celtic in 1997 was a journey to 'the promised land' for him; a way of 'escaping from the nightmare of Rotterdam'.

Despite hitting double figures in front of goal in his second and third seasons with Feyenoord, Larsson's fourth year at the club was marred by fallouts with manager Arie Haan and subsequent poor form.

Even the transfer was strenuous. Feyenoord tried to block the move after Larsson completed his Celtic medical, despite the Glasgow club agreeing to pay the £600,000 buyout clause stipulated in his contract. Celtic and Larsson were ultimately proved right by a Dutch FA tribunal, but the delay created more unnecessary woe for the striker.

Guidetti's move to Celtic was also left in the balance due to administrative issues. Considered the brightest Swedish talent of a generation, at the age of 16 he signed an initial three-year contract with Manchester City in April 2008 but has spent most of the time since on loan, including that season with Feyenoord that suggested he would be a household name in European football by now.

Life, however, has dealt the 22-year-old a harsh hand. The striker made his Sweden debut in February 2012 while at the peak of his powers in the Netherlands, and looked likely to join the national team in the European Championship that summer. Then … disaster. In April of that year, a viral infection caused by eating a badly cooked chicken resulted in nerve problems in one of the striker's legs. The prognosis was six months out - ruling out a trip to Poland and Ukraine - but six months turned into nine, and just as he seemed about to return to regular football a knee injury requiring a minor operation added a further setback. Trying to find any rhythm or consistency proved impossible, and players of lesser confidence might have thrown in the towel.

A loan move to Stoke City last January should have been a chance to find his feet, but ultimately it became a further obstacle, with the Swede's self-belief more hindrance than help on this occasion. Within weeks at the Britannia Stadium, Guidetti complained to the Swedish press about not playing enough - not a great strategy to get on side with Mark Hughes, who is not known for his love of outspoken footballers. He rarely played.

At Celtic Guidetti will get the chance for which he is so desperate, and while a successful loan spell is important for the Scottish champions it is doubly important for the player. At 22, he will soon exhaust the reserves of patience afforded to bright youngsters, so proving that his time with Feyenoord was not just a purple patch is now a matter of urgency.

If hopes for Guidetti are high at Parkhead then they are even higher in his home nation. Many in Sweden still see him as a beacon of hope. Guidetti's talent means that despite the trouble of recent years he remains big news back home. His protracted move to Scotland has featured across the major Swedish sports pages while Swedish TV4 revealed on transfer deadline day that they will broadcast the SPFL this season. When their channel chief Hans Pekkari announced the deal by tweeting it was 'good news for fans of Celtic and John Guidetti', little doubt was left over who the main attraction was.

There has not been this much Swedish attention on Celtic since Henrik Larsson was scoring for them on a weekly basis, so the man the Swedes call Super Guidetti has a lot to live up to. The similarities may be many, but Guidetti's choice of the number nine instead of Larsson's old seven is probably a smart move.

Better to carve out his own reputation than attempt to imitate a club great. The promised land may await, just as it did 17 years ago.