BBC Sports Celtic struck gold with “outstanding” ace who’s now similar to a £54m star.
Brendan Rodgers had strong backing from the Celtic board during the summer transfer window, with a number of players brought in to bolster the squad. Arne Engels, Adam Idah, Paulo Bernardo, Auston Trusty, Kasper Schmeichel, and Luke McCowan were among the players signed to strengthen the group’s quality. It remains to be seen whether those moves will be effective in the long run, given that they are all in the early phases of their Celtic careers.
Rodgers’ predecessor, Ange Postecoglou, had plenty of joy in the transfer market during his time at Parkhead, with a host of successful signings.
Ange Postecoglou’s best Celtic signings
One of his biggest signings as manager of the Hoops was the rumoured £1.5 million agreement to capture central midfielder Matt O’Riley from MK Dons in early 2022. The left-footed wizard went on to score 27 goals and 35 assists in 124 games across all competitions for the Hoops before being purchased by Brighton for £25 million this summer. Another player the Scottish giants made a large profit on was Portuguese attacker Jota, who spent a season on loan from Benfica before signing for £6.5 million in the summer of 2022.
The winger scored 28 goals and assisted 26 in 83 matches for Glasgow over two seasons, convincing Al-Ittihad to pay £25 million to sign him in 2023. Celtic have also hit the jackpot with centre-forward Kyogo Furuhashi, whom Postecoglou bought from Vissel Kobe for a projected £4.5 million in the summer of 2021.
Kyogo is now similar to £54m striker
Because of his performance in the Champions League this season, the Japan international has been compared to RB Leipzig star Benjamin Sesko, who featured in the 3-1 defeat to Celtic.
As shown in the table above, both players are goal-focused centre-forwards, which means they generate high xG statistics without providing many high-quality opportunities for their teammates. Kyogo, who has one goal in four Champions League starts, is statistically similar to Sesko, demonstrating how well he has performed for Celtic, given that the Leipzig star was valued at €65 million (£54 million) during the summer transfer window. Postecoglou hit the jackpot with the star, whom he previously described as “outstanding,” since he has been an excellent player for the club throughout the years, scoring 81 goals in 153 outings.
Kyogo scored 32 goals in all competitions during the 2022/23 season, as demonstrated in the video above, but his productivity has decreased in recent seasons. The 29-year-old forward, who was reportedly linked with Manchester City in the summer, scored 19 goals in 50 outings last season and has eight goals in 20 appearances this season.
While it remains to be seen whether Kyogo will eventually be sold for a profit, the forward’s performance on the pitch has more than compensated for his £4.5 million transfer fee over the years.
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