Former Celtic striker Kyogo Furuhashi has been struck down by a familiar injury that at times plagued his time spent in Glasgow.
With Kyogo playing 165 games in four and a half years at Celtic, scoring 85 goals in that time, one issue he has consistently struggled with is a shoulder injury, and more specifically, his shoulder popping out of place at times and needing to be popped back in by the club’s medics.
Brendan Rodgers previously spoke about how, if Kyogo were to undergo surgery, he would be out for four months, meaning no matter when the surgery took place, he would still miss a number of games.
It can be said that the shoulder problem is one that Rennes would have known about if they had done their due diligence in scouting the Japanese striker.
However, if they didn’t, and this is the first they’ve found out about his shoulder issues, it will be a huge blow to boss Habib Beye, with the Frenchman frustrated at having to play with nine men, especially after bringing Kyogo off the bench in the 72nd minute with Rennes 2-0 down to Lille at home. However, he would have to be taken off due to the familiar injury just minutes later.
Beye said: (RecordSport), “Red cards, injuries, they don’t help but I don’t want to use them as an excuse. Kyogo Furuhashi’s shoulder injury forces us to change system and, at that moment, we have a highlight, we had a boost of energy.
“I think our choices in the final third were not always the right ones, we lacked precision and offensive weight to put them under pressure. The problem is that, at one point, we played with 9, with the temporary exit of Kyogo Furuhashi.”
It’s certainly a sad injury for Kyogo. He has done his best to manage the pain, but after such long-term problems with his shoulder, he may undergo surgery before the end of the season.
Rennes currently sit 13th in Ligue 1, just 5 points ahead of 16th-placed St-Étienne in the relegation playoffs, meaning they are not by any means safe from relegation.
How this affects Kyogo’s potential surgery remains to be seen, but having received a reported £10 million, Celtic will look to sign a new striker in the summer, having seemingly failed to do so on transfer deadline day. Daizen Maeda and Adam Idah have impressed in Kyogo’s absence since his departure.
