Celtic have had some of the best strikers on the island during its history. Henrik Larsson and John Hartson come to mind, and we shouldn’t forget Chris Sutton as some of the legendary names that even the younger fans will remember. Even recently, they have had the likes of Odsonne Edouard, Moussa Dembele, and Gary Hooper. The most recent name on Celtic’s fans’ lips was Kyogo Furuhashi.
Furuhashi was a player Ange Postecoglou brought in as a part of his Japanese colony in Glasgow. The Japanese ace had a stellar career with Celtic and was their best player during his stay. In three seasons, Kyogo scored 85 goals in 165 games, becoming a fan favorite.
The Celtics find themselves in a peculiar situation: having to replace one of their best players during the winter transfer window. From a financial standpoint, the Kyogo transfer made sense. Selling a 30-year-old striker with no previous experience in one of the top 5 leagues in Europe for a sum of £ 10 million was a no-brainer- brainer. On the other hand, replacing him will take some serious thinking from the Celts.
While the January transfer window is almost closed, Celtic can bid their time waiting for an aerial reinforcement. After all, they’re topping the table after 23 rounds of the Scottish Premier League. Celtic has 60 points from 23 games, sporting the league’s best attack and most solid defense with 64 scored goals and only 11 conceded with a match in hand over their most significant and closest rivals, Rangers.
What doesn’t play well into Celtic’s future plans is that they currently have only one real striker on the roster, Adam Idah. While we’re sure that Idah will flourish in the coming months, entering the second half of the season with only one striker is not a wise decision. Celtic is trying to make business, but at this moment, they’re not doing too well.
One of the names linked with the Celts was Louie Barry. The 21-year-old striker made a name for himself in the lower leagues in England, and he looks poised for a move in the foreseeable future. During his spell at Stockport County, Barry amassed 25 goals in 46 appearances in one and a half seasons. The issue with Louie is that he’s not a Stockport layer but an Aston Villa loaned player. Villa sees him as a part of their future and wants another loan move for him instead of a permanent transfer that Celtic suggested. Due to their aspirations, Barry was recalled from his loan, as Villa recognized that it was time for him to move up the divisions.
Celtic bid was rejected, and Louie Barry is set to move on loan to Hull City, where he should be an immediate starter. This is the sad reality for Scottish clubs as the Championship sides such as Hull City can take players in front of their eyes. When a youngster like Barry doesn’t want to push for a permanent move to one of the world’s most recognizable brands, you know something is wrong. Either way, if you want to bet on EFL championship, you should expect goals when playing over/under on Hull City.
While we’re only talking about a loan move to Hull City, where Aston Villa is protecting its assets, even when it comes to permanent transfers, teams from the Championship have a more considerable pull due to many of them being financially more potent than SPL teams and having a promise of Premier League on the table. When you know that Hull City is sponsored by Corendon Airlines, Kappa, and Sportsbet, among their other sponsors, you get why they have a bigger pull than Celtic. This failed transfer may be the creation of a new rivalry.
With Louie Berry’s transfer off the books, Celtic is still searching for reinforcements. With their former Jota back in the squad, things look brighter. Still, at the end of the day, the Portuguese ace is a hybrid of a playmaker/winger, with a solid output back in his first Celtic stint but a far cry from Fuhurashi’s replacement. Also, after bad spells in Saudi Arabia and France, Celtic can’t be sure what they will receive from him in the second part of the year.
This year, as many years before, Kyogo was Celtic’s best striker. During the first half of the year, he scored 10 goals in the league, and no other Celtic player comes close. Brendan Rodgers’ team plays attacking football, and the likes of Kuhn, McCowan, Engels, Hatate, and Maeda will be looking to fill the shoes Fuhurashi left. His Japanese teammate Daizen Maeda is touted as the one who will receive plenty of chances upfront if a replacement is not found in January.
One of the names linked with Celtic during this transfer window or as a summer replacement is Brondby standout striker Mathias Kvistgaarden. The Scottish champions have been looking in his direction for some time now. During the first part of the season in Denmark, Kvistgaarden scored 10 goals in 15 appearances, adding 4 assists. It is believed that a £8m bid should seal the deal, but it is a well-known fact that these teams have failed to reach an agreement during the summer as they could not agree on the payer’s valuation. When you know that teams ask for more during the January transfer window, it is expected that Brondby could stand their ground again. After all, they are only six points behind the league leaders in Copenhagen and have title aspirations in Denmark’s second half of the season.
If this move fails to materialize, other names touted as potential Kyogo replacements include former Celtic player Odsonnne Edouard, Bojan Miovksi from Girona, Troy Parrott from AZ, and Tammy Abraham. Many of these names are outside of the Celtic pay scale, but with the right ambition and a promise of silverware and regular Champions League participation, Celtic could land any of them.
Even if no move materializes during the winter transfer window, Celtic fans will have plenty to look forward to during the summer. The team is expected to receive an additional boost for its future challenges, which include domestic domination and reaching further stages in the CL.
