Celtic have been incredibly busy in the early weeks of the summer transfer window as they look to bolster their squad ahead of the 2025/26 campaign.
Kieran Tierney and Ross Doohan have already been unveiled as new additions to the team, with both players set to officially join as free agents at the start of next month.
As you can see in the graphic above, the Scotland international is returning for a second spell at Parkhead, having left the Hoops to join Arsenal in the Premier League in the summer of 2019.
Celtic are also set to complete the signing of FC Nordsjælland winger Benjamin Nygren, who is due to put pen to paper on a contract that could last five years.
Brendan Rodgers is also in the market to land a senior number nine, after a deal for young Fulham forward Callum Osmand, having been left with just Adam Idah since Kyogo Furuhashi left the club in January.
Celtic sold the Japan international to Rennes for a reported fee of £10m at the start of the year, ending what was a very successful time for him in Glasgow.
Celtic hit gold with Kyogo Furuhashi
The Scottish Premiership giants paid a fee of £4.3m to sign the attacker from Vissel Kobe in the summer of 2021, with Ange Postecoglou at the helm, and it is fair to say that they got their money’s worth.
Kyogo went on to rack up 85 goals and 19 assists in 185 appearances in all competitions for the Hoops in three-and-a-half years at Parkhead before his move to France in January.
That included a stunning return of 34 goals in the 2022/23 season, as you can see in the clips above, and these statistics show that the club hit gold by snapping him up for a fee of just £4.3m.
Kyogo also stepped up for the Light Blues in big moments during his time in Glasgow, as evidenced by his haul of eight goals in 17 games against Rangers.
Hearts
14
11
Rangers
17
8
St Johnstone
11
8
Aberdeen
13
7
St Mirren
13
6
Dundee
8
6
As you can see in the table above, Hearts are the only team the Japanese striker scored more goals against for Celtic than Rangers in his time at the club.
Taking all of this into consideration, and the £10m fee they got for him in January, it is clear to see that the Hoops hit the jackpot by signing Kyogo in 2021.
The Scottish giants did not sign another striker to take his place in the January window, but they are now reportedly eyeing a star who would be a dream replacement for the Japan international.
Celtic confident of deal for Premier League striker
According to Football Insider, Celtic are confident that they will be able to win the race to sign Brighton & Hove Albion centre-forward Evan Ferguson this summer.
The report claims that they believe that they can strike a deal to land him on a season-long loan ahead of Premier League teams Everton and Nottingham Forest.
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It adds that Rodgers is pushing for the club to sign the Ireland international to bolster his options at the top end of the pitch for the 2025/26 campaign.
Former scout Mick Brown explained why the Hoops are a good option for the striker, telling Football Insider:
“Celtic can offer attractive opportunities to players like Ferguson. They’re going to be playing in the Champions League and competing for trophies, which would be valuable experience for a player of his age.”
It is now down to the club to agree a deal with Brighton before convincing the striker that a move to Parkhead is the best next step in his young career.
Why Celtic should sign Evan Ferguson
The Hoops should sign the Premier League youngster this summer because he is a talented number nine who is more valuable than his 2024/25 campaign suggests.
On the face of it, signing a striker who just scored one goal in 23 games for Brighton and West Ham combined is not too appealing. However, it is worth keeping in mind that a knee injury kept him out from April to August last year, which meant that he missed all of pre-season and played catch-up all season.
Ferguson’s form in the previous two Premier League seasons for Brighton, with a pre-season under his belt, suggest that he has the potential to be a dream replacement for Kyogo at Parkhead.
Possibly the biggest problem Kyogo had at the end of his Celtic career was his finishing, as he missed 46 ‘big chances’ in his last 18 months, scoring 27 goals in that time.
The Brighton youngster, whose finishing was hailed as “phenomenal” by James Milner, has shown that he has the quality to be very efficient in front of goal at Premier League level in recent years.
22/23
5.67
6
+0.33
23/24
3.97
6
+2.03
24/25
1.36
1
-0.36
Total
10.29
13
+1.89
As you can see in the table above, Ferguson outperformed his xG in the 2022/23 and 2023/24 campaigns for the Seagulls, which speaks to his ability to find the back of the net effectively at the very top level.
These statistics show that the potential is there for him to come in as an upgrade on what they had with Kyogo in the number nine position, because he is a clinical finisher who may not miss as many ‘big chances’ as the Japan international.
The Premier League forward would also bring more physicality to the table than Kyogo, as he has won 44% of his aerial duels in the 2023/24 campaign – when he last played regularly.
Whereas, the former Hoops marksman won 33% of his aerial battles this season in the Premiership, and 26% of them in the 2023/24 campaign, which suggests that Ferguson would be more effective as a target man for the team to hit when they need to play a longer pass to break a press or clear the ball from danger.
Worth more than Kyogo: Celtic have hit the jackpot on "incredible" star
Celtic have hit gold with this star who is now worth even more than Kyogo Furuhashi.
ByDan EmeryJun 24, 2025
Overall, the 20-year-old attacker’s finishing quality and physical attributes could make him a dream replacement for Kyogo, as well as being an upgrade on him. The largest sticking point could well be a price tag, however, with Transfermarkt valuing him at £21m.