NEW Celtic manager Brendan Rodgers has spoken of his admiration for Kyogo Furuhashi and compared the Japanese striker’s style of play to that of his former forwards Daniel Sturridge, Luis Suarez and Jamie Vardy.
Furuhashi, who scored 35 goals for club and country in the 2022/23 campaign, has been linked with a move to Spurs, where Ange Postecoglou took over last month after overseeing a world record eighth domestic treble at Parkhead, this summer.
However, Rodgers, who was confirmed as Postecoglou’s successor last week, has confessed that he is a huge fan of the man who was named both SFWA and PFA Scotland Player of the Year at the end of last season.
The Northern Irishman, who has signed a three year contract with his boyhood heroes, has vowed to work closely with Celtic head of recruitment Mark Lawwell and strengthen the squad he has inherited even further in the coming weeks.
But the ex-Swansea City, Liverpool and Leicester City manager stressed that Furuhashi, a £4.6m signing from Vissel Kobe in his homeland back in 2021, possesses many of the attributes that he looks for in a striker and will fit in perfectly with his attacking game plan.
“What I see is a team where there are no real big stars,” he said. “There are some top players – Kyogo, (Reo) Hatate, Jota, these guys. But the star really is the team. It reminds me very much of my Swansea team, how they are really synchronised in how they work and how they play.
“It was a similar sort of idea coming into Swansea. They had a decent foundation that we had to build on. I see Celtic as being very similar to that, where it’s all about the team. It’s that synchronisation that is the success.
“But I’ve seen quite a bit of Kyogo. If you look through my history: strikers who can penetrate the last line, who can receive and score goals.
“Danny Graham at Swansea was great for me. Then at Liverpool Sturridge and Suarez could run in behind and penetrate. It was the same with Vardy at Leicester. Kyogo is certainly that. It’s a team who can look after the ball and play at fast speed.”
Meanwhile, Rodgers has stated that 31-year-old winger James Forrest, who only made 23 appearances for Celtic last season due to injuries, has a future under him and admitted he is looking forward to working with the man who has won no fewer than 23 major honours in his 14 years at Parkhead.
“Does he still have a role to play?” he said. “Yes. It’s only Callum (McGregor), James and Scott (Bain) from my time before. James is at the stage of the career where it’s slightly different. For him, it’s all about staying fit.
“He was such an important player in the squad last time and he was a great guy to work with. I’m looking forward to seeing him again. It’s been a challenge for him, but I’ve seen snippets of him where, when he’s fit and ready, he is a fantastic player for Celtic.”
