Unfortunately for Celtic fans, the one single bit of January transfer rumour mill speculation that we had all hoped would not come to pass has now been rubber stamped and French Ligue 1 side Rennes have completed their capture of striker Kyogo Furuhashi.
After all the speculation linking our 30 year old talismanic Japanese international with a switch to Atalanta, when that fell down there certainly seemed like their may have been something in the Rennes rumours but we all hoped it would not be true, and Kyogo moves on arguably when he would have had far better options available to him had he waited for the summer.
Undoubtedly, the vast majority in the Parkhead faithful will wish him well on his move though as having arrived as a virtual unknown back in 2021, he has played a major part in our more recent success and with 85 goals in his 165 appearances for us his importance cannot be overstated. Again though this was one move that those who use football betting apps were hoping would not go through, but Rennes clearly know what they are getting as they look to improve on what has been a very poor season for them and Kyogo will be confident he can help lift them up the table from third bottom.
As part of the deal, it has also now been confirmed that former Celtic star Jota returns to Glasgow after his own poor 18 months. Having left in the summer for Saudi Arabian Pro League side Al-Ittihad for a whopping £25 million, a number of issues meant that he never really established himself as a starter for them, and he did not really make an impact for the French side having moved to them last summer either.
The 25 year old former Portuguese Under 21 international’s talent is not in doubt though, and we have seen him light up Celtic Park for ourselves, and the simple aim will be to get him back to those kinds of form levels and no doubt a bit of love from the fan base who previously treasured him will help that process along more quickly, and he referenced that relationship quite heavily after the deal was announced describing his return as ‘nostalgic’ and ‘where I feel at home’.
Naturally neither player is a like for like in manager Brendan Rodgers’ side, so whether or not we do now return to the market for a more established and proven striker remains to be seen as we do have other options to turn to that our gaffer would now seriously be expecting to impress and step up and fill that middle gap that has now been left.
The obvious one is Adam Idah with a poor start to permanent club life. We saw what the £9 million signed Republic of Ireland international could do during his loan spell, and getting him back to that form would be welcomed by all.
Fans will also be wondering whether or not Rodgers would be entertaining Daizen Maeda or even Nicolas Kuhn to make the position their own, or added to Jota’s talents, would we go for a more fluid front line and see players interchange for the second half of the year.
With a few days left in the window, we probably will not get quick answers here and the Aston Villa clash probably will not give us much in the way of hints either, but it gives us plenty to talk about.
