Kyogo Furuhashi’s struggles after leaving Celtic have continued with the Japan national team, where he failed to make the bench as he Samurai Blue edged past Bahrain with a 2-0 victory to qualify for next year’s World Cup Finals…
The striker departed the Scottish Premiership champions in January, completing a £9m move to Rennes. Since his arrival in France, the 30-year-old has featured in only four matches for the struggling Ligue 1 side, with just one of those appearances being a starting role.
An underwhelming start to his time in Brittany
His underwhelming start to his time in Brittany has sparked increasing rumours that Rennes may seek to offload Kyogo this summer. In another setback since his departure from Celtic, Kyogo, despite being called back to the Japan national team, was excluded from the matchday squad against Bahrain yesterday morning.
Celtic duo Reo Hatate and Daizen Maeda were both named on the bench for Japan’s seventh AFC Qualifier ahead of next summer’s World Cup in Canada, Mexico and USA.
Although part of the squad, Kyogo was neither named in the starting XI nor included on the bench for Hajime Moriyasu’s side’s crucial encounter.
— 前田 大然 Daizen Maeda (@M_daizen_1020) March 21, 2025
At Celtic, Kyogo was repeatedly overlooked by Hajime Moriyasu
Throughout his time at Celtic, Kyogo was repeatedly overlooked by the Japan national team manager, even missing out on a place in their squad for the 2022 World Cup. This shows that the grass isn’t always greener, and that a move to a top five league will not guarantee a change in status at national team level.
After watching his teammates secure qualification for the World Cup, Kyogo addressed his situation at Rennes, telling Nikkan Sports: “I’m running, hoping that one pass out of ten will be enough. It’s not good for a forward to stop moving there. I’m running and communicating.
“I want to stay positive and do my best”
“Even in difficult times I believe I can make a splash somewhere. To that end, I want to prepare well and polish the areas I can on the pitch. That means I can perform well when I’m on the field, and I want to stay positive and do my best.”
At least Kyogo made the squad for these two international matches, as he was continually overlooked while playing for Celtic. With qualification secured Kyogo might even get some minutes against Saudi Arabia later this week.
“I hope to be able to show my strengths”
“I’m grateful to have been called up, and with so many good forwards,” Kyogo said, “I hope to be able to show my strengths. The national team has scored a lot of goals, so I would like to score as well if I get the chance to play.”
Kyogo will no doubt be well aware of the L’Equipe report stating that Udinese striker Florian Thauvin has been made a contract offer by Rennes with his deal in Serie A set to expire in the summer.
Reports this week also suggested that Rennes were prepared to cut their loses with Kyogo and look at selling him on on the summer for a cut-price £3.5m fee, taking a hit of around £6m in the process.
Conor Spence
I don’t think he’ll come back tbh, Maeda is too good
but I would like Kyogo to stay in a big European league