Jorge Sampaoli has claimed that he didn’t even plan to sign Kyogo from Celtic in January and that it was part of the reason why he left Rennes so suddenly…
The Argentine coach hasn’t been in post long when he decided to up sticks and seek new opportunities, just days after Furuhashi has joined the Ligue 1 club in a £10 million deal from the Scottish Champions.
It was a change of circumstances that left many bewildered and questioned just what Kyogo Furuhashi had gotten himself into by swapping Glasgow for Brittany. It’s not gone to plan at all for the Japanese international and he has fallen out of favour under Sampaoli’s replacement too, struggling to even make the matchday squad at times.
‘Frankly, the club was not up to the expectations that I had’
The former Sevilla boss said of his sudden departure from the French side: “The owner of the club is a very important person in France and, frankly, the club was not up to the expectations that I had compared to the market. The sports director decided to make a transfer window that had nothing to do with what we needed.”
As reported by Scottish Sun, he added: “We preferred to cut the bridges. I could not represent a team which I had not chosen the players in the winter transfer window. We even talked about players who have already played with us to change the story more easily, but we were not listened to.”
A rude awakening for a modern Celtic great
It has been a rude awakening for a modern Celtic great who is finding out that life away from Celtic Park is anything but Paradise. It’s broadly contested that the reason behind the move was to try and force his way into the national team set-up once again, with the World Cup in 2026 now on the horizon. However, it’s looking more and more likely that our once great striker may not achieve that goal, despite the clamour for him to move to a better league.
And as he’s now 30 years old the next World Cup is almost certainly going to be his last chance to play for his country on the biggest stage of all.
Hopefully Kyogo can still find a solution
Hopefully Kyogo can still find a solution to this career misstep and regain some confidence wherever he goes. A summer move would appear to be the best solution for all parties with Rennes likely to have to accept a much lower fee than the £10m that they paid Celtic just a few months ago.
In sharp contrast Jota, who made the same move but in the opposite direction in January appears to be loving life back at Paradise and has hit the ground running for Brendan Rodgers’s side. Maybe the grass is greener at Paradise after all.
Paul Gillespie
BRING HIM HOME!
For 3 million…
Kyogo must come back
The calls to bring him back are asinine!
He wanted to go more than anyone has in recent years. Bringing everyone who leaves, back again, regardless of how successful they were is not always good. Sure, the return of Jota and Tierney are major coups. But we can’t and shouldn’t consider everyone.
Let some go. No-one loved the wee man more than I did. But he’s moved on and we have unearthed a superstar as a result!
His departure has opened the door for Maeda to shine brighter than the Rising Sun itself!