Brendan Rodgers has expressed his admiration for the club’s Japanese striker, Kyogo Furuhashi.

Rodgers believes that Kyogo has the potential to be as successful in his system as Luis Suarez and Jamie Vardy were under his management at Liverpool and Leicester City, respectively.

The SPFL Player of the Year has been a revelation in his first two years in Scotland, but there have been doubts about how he might react to the departure of Ange Postecoglou, the manager who signed him and five of his countrymen.

Postecoglou recently left Celtic for Tottenham Hotspur, and there have been reports of him preparing a big-money bid to bring the 28-year-old to London.

However, Rodgers, who has returned for a second spell at Celtic, is eager to work with Furuhashi.

He believes that he can help the player reach new heights in his career. This statement from Rodgers not only shows his confidence in Furuhashi’s abilities but also signals his intent to retain the striker amidst interest from other clubs.

Brendan Rodgers said: [The Herald]

“What I see is a team where there are no real big stars.

“There are some top players – Kyogo, (Reo) Hatate, Jota, these guys. But the star really is the team. It reminds me very much of my Swansea team, how they are really synchronised in how they work and how they play.

“It was a similar sort of idea coming into Swansea. They had a decent foundation that we had to build on. I see Celtic as being very similar to that, where it’s all about the team. It’s that synchronisation that is the success.

“But I’ve seen quite a bit of Kyogo. If you look through my history: strikers who can penetrate the last line, who can receive and score goals.

“Danny Graham at Swansea was great for me. Then at Liverpool Sturridge and Suarez could run in behind and penetrate. It was the same with Vardy at Leicester. Kyogo is certainly that. It’s a team who can look after the ball and play at fast speed.”