Celtic have reached an agreement with J-League Club Vissel Kobe for Japanese forward Kyogo Furuhashi.
The 26-year-old Japanese international is all set to make the switch from Japan to the Scottish Premiership, a move which many of the Celtic fans were expecting. The player will join the team at Parkhead under Ange Postecoglou, with the player and manager being familiar with each other from their time together in Japan.
The player is set to sign a four-year deal with the Bhoys for an undisclosed fee. Kyogo Furuhashi was the top scorer in the J1- League last season netting 14 goals in 20 appearances. The Japanese international becomes the fourth signing under Ange, following the arrivals of Sheffield Wednesday’s Liam Shaw and Osaze Urhoghide and Liel Abada from Maccabi Petah Tikva.
✍️ We have reached agreement to sign Japanese internationalist, @Kyogo_Furuhashi subject to the satisfaction of usual conditions and international clearance! ?#WelcomeKyogo ???
— Celtic Football Club (@CelticFC) July 16, 2021
It looked certain when Postecoglou became Celtic manager that he will bring talents from the J1-league and the signing of Kyogo Furuhasi marks the beginning of that particular idea. Nevertheless, there are plenty of reasons for the Celtic fans to be excited about it as Furuhashi is a talented forward and proven goal-scorer in Japan.
Ange was all praise towards the talented Japanese forward and he is sure that the Celtic supporters will be delighted to see him play for the club. Ange Postecoglou told the club website:
“We are delighted to bring Kyogo Furuhashi to Celtic. He is a player of real quality and clearly someone I know very well.”
“I think he will add something special to our squad and I am sure the way he plays will excite our supporters. We look forward to welcoming him to Celtic”.
Kyogo Furuhashi was instrumental in his previous club’s successes in the last few years. He helped Vissel Kobe win the only two national trophies in their club history, Notably, he was part of the team that lifted the 2019 Emperor’s Cup in 2020 after a 2-0 victory over Kashima Antlers at Tokyo’s National Stadium.
The facts speak for themselves, it is clear that Furuhashi likes to win trophies and has been instrumental in achieving that goal for his previous club. The Celtic supporters ask nothing more but success in the form of trophies and silverware. This signing does indicate that Celtic is headed in the right direction in the transfer market so far.
⚽️?GOALLL! Kyogo Furuhashi scores for Vissel Kobe in the 30th minute!
Cerezo Osaka 0 – [1] Vissel Kobe
© J.LEAGUE – All Rights Reserved #JLEAGUE pic.twitter.com/8REs9iJkp3
— J.LEAGUE Official EN (@J_League_En) July 17, 2021
The Japanese striker’s signing will boost the attacking lineup for Celtic. The previous arrivals did boost up the defensive set-up at Parkhead, but it was clear that Celtic needed someone reliable and talented to lead the attacking lines.
However, the arrival of the new signings, the recent one being Furuhashi, also hints that some players could be on their way out. With fresh new talents being added to the squad, the club will look to offload some of the players who are nearing the end of their contracts and could fund their transfer plans by selling them and bring in more players before the transfer window shuts.
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