The Daily Mail has suggested that Manchester City could bid in the region of £20m for Kyogo Furuhashi.
News broke on Twitter late on Tuesday that the four-in-a-row EPL champions were interested in the Celtic striker, that claim seeded patchy but on Wednesday morning Sam Lee of The Athletic gave that story authenticity.
Fabrizio Romano was quickly onto the story with Lee called on by Radio Scotland and Radio Clyde to give more detail on the story that those broadcasters have been dreaming of as things nose-dive at Ibrox.
A fortnight ago Kyogo was Celtic’s one and only striker but after his shoulder injury reoccurred and the arrival of Adam Idah the dependency isn’t quite the same. For good measure Daizen Maeda scored twice playing as a striker against Hibs.
Rodgers does now have other striking options but four weeks away from the opening Champions League the potential loss of Kyogo would leave Celtic in a far weaker position that last season.
The Daily Mail reports:
While Brendan Rodgers is a big admirer of a player he recently described as ‘an elite striker’, the club would be unlikely to block on any deal if City came to the table with more than £20m.
The Japan international has been a huge success at Parkhead since joining under Ange Postecoglou in 2021 from Vissel Kobe.
Kyogo, who signed a new four-year deal at Celtic until 2027 last summer, has scored 73 goals in 135 games and won seven major honours.
Rodgers has strengthened the forward position this summer with the £8.5m signing of Adam Idah from Norwich.
At that price tag it would be very very difficult for Celtic to turn down but the issue would be identifying and signing a replacement in the final week of the transfer window.
Lawrence Shankland from Hearts would be the laziest replacement possible but with little sign of a scouting network or recruitment strategy a move for the Hearts striker can’t be ruled out.
On all known form Michael Nicholson, Chris McKay and Peter Lawwell would be high-fiving at an offer of £20m as they decide on the quickest way to get Kyogo down the M74 safely into a medical at the Etihad.
Keeping customers content at the loss of both of last season’s top scorers with a Shankland level replacement will be a tough act as the £200 Champions League package is spun to the #CelticFamily.
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1 Comment
by Eddie McKelvies Capri
With respect the owners of Celtic are in it for the money, not the experience, Nicolson is simply Lawwells mini me and placeman. Dermot Desmond is the only Billionaire in World Football to make money from owning a football club. Their modus operandi is cash and ROI. Champions League aspirations are for the customers to dream about.