Kyogo Furuhashi to leave Celtic: How do they replace striker?
2025-01-24
Category: sports

It is not a title Celtic fans have thrown around too often in the past 20 years, but it is one many have been happy to bestow on Kyogo Furuhashi â the best since Henrik Larsson.It is unlikely any striker in green and white will ever reach the levels of adulation the Swede continues to enjoy to this day.But Kyogo, with his goals, game intelligence and infectious personality had carved out a special place in the hearts of the Parkhead faithful.With the Japan forward poised to complete a sudden move to Rennes in France's Ligue 1, what impact has he had? How might Celtic replace him? And what do the fans think?
Kyogo in numbers
The Scottish champions must now fill the void left by a player who did not just make a habit of scoring, but of scoring big goals in big games.In his debut season with Celtic, two sublime finishes in the 2-1 League Cup final victory over Hibernian at Hampden established Kyogo as a man for the big occasion.Rangers will certainly be glad to see the back of him. In 17 derby matches, Kyogo scored eight times, four of them match-winners.Since he was signed by Ange Postecoglou in 2021 from J-League club Vissel Kobe, no player has scored more than Kyogo's 63 Scottish Premiership goals, with Heart of Midlothian's Lawrence Shankland next on the list on 51.After netting 20 and 34 respectively in all competitions in his first two seasons under Postecoglou, the scoring rate has dropped in the past two seasons to 19 goals in 2023-24 and 12 goals in 32 games this term.Goals are only one element to Kyogo's game, though, and it is testament to his all-round value that he has remained Brendan Rodgers' first-choice striker even when the goals have not been flowing as freely.
How do Celtic replace him?
It is inconceivable that Celtic will not move for another striker in the remaining week or so of this transfer window. There are other options in the building - but not a like-for-like replacement.Adam Idah was the big-money signing of the summer and, while the Republic of Ireland striker has contributed eight goals and forced the winner against Young Boys on Wednesday, he has failed to find the net himself in 14 games. He has pace and power and, while at 23 years old he has time to come good, he does not possess Kyogo's movement or deadly finishing ability.Regular left winger Daizen Maeda is often utilised through the middle at international level with Japan and the expected return of Portuguese winger Jota may mean Maeda moves into that central role.However, his work in the channels â taking on full-backs and turning defences with his pace while hassling them when out of possession â is so invaluable to the way Celtic play that deploying Maeda centrally may be solving one problem by creating another.Johnny Kenny has been brought into the first-team fold after a prolific goalscoring spell on loan at Shamrock Rovers but is still to prove himself at the top level.With a domestic Treble to play for and a first appearance in the Champions League knockout stages since 2013 still to come this season, Celtic will surely look to beef up their attacking options this January window.
Have your say
What do you make of Celtic's decision to sell Kyogo?How big a loss will he be? And how might Brendan Rodgers replace him?Let us know here, external