Nicolas Kuhn ends post-Celtic struggles as £17m man makes Premiership claim after breaking Como duck

Nicolas Kuhn is hopeful of a 'new beginning' after scoring his first goal for Como in Serie A.

And the German reckons that having to get used to playing against tight Italian defences are part of the reason he has struggled since his big money move from Celtic. Cesc Fabregas' big spenders splashed out £17million to land the winger last summer only for Kuhn to go 18 matches without registering a goal or an assist.

Kuhn finally opened his account for the club with Como's fifth goal in a 6-0 thrashing of Torino on Saturday. The victory has moved the Lombardy side up to fifth in the league table and just three points behind third-placed Napoli.

Kuhn's goal output tailed off towards the back end of his spell at Celtic but the former Bayern Munich kid left the Hoops with an impressive tally of 24 strikes and 18 assists in 69 appearances in all competitions. After scoring his first Como goal, the 26-year-old has opened up on his first six months in Italy and why it's been a slow start. He said: "I'm finally here to talk to you about my goal.

"It was a special goal, I'm very happy to have scored after this start to the season. Caqueret gave me a great ball, and it's normal for me to play one-on-one. I saw the corner and I shot, I'm happy.

Asked to compare Serie A to the Scottish Premiership, he replied: "Yes, the Scottish league is a different league. Here, they score one or two goals. Today is an exception. Here, they defend differently; they defend strongly. We're scoring a lot, and I hope this is just the beginning. I had some injuries in preseason, and I wasn't at my best.

"It wasn't easy, nor was it the start I'd hoped for. If this can be a new beginning... let's hope. There's a lot of competition, but it's good; it keeps