Kyogo Furuhashi has declared new signings Tomoki Iwata and Yuki Kobayashi ready to make an impact at Celtic.
The Japanese forward, yesterday named Premiership Player of the Month for December, is excited to be joined by two more of his countrymen in Glasgow.
Iwata, signed from Yokohama F. Marinos was expected to arrive in Glasgow on Friday, while Kobayashi – a former team-mate of Kyogo’s at Vissel Kobe – made the bench for Monday’s draw with Rangers.
With a wealth of options at Ange Postecoglou’s disposal, the league’s top scorer cautioned they may have to be patient in waiting for a chance – but fully expects they’ll prove their worth to the club.
“They are both excellent players and they are both excited and ready to play here in Scotland,” Kyogo said. “I'm excited as well, to play with them. I played with Kobayashi at Vissel Kobe so it will be good to play alongside him again. It definitely helps me, but each player has to show with his performances what he brings to the club. Sometimes he may have to wait. This is why it's important for me to concentrate on my own performances.”
Those performances have yielded 16 goals for Kyogo and aided in establishing a nine-point lead at the Premiership summit. The striker maintained he tries not to set targets, but admitted he’s got half an eye on hitting 20 before long.
“I want to thank all our staff, my fellow players and supporters for helping me towards this award,” the 27-year-old said. “I will keep working hard to try and bring good results for the team to pay back these awards. I'm very happy with it. I want to work hard for the team and if I do it will help win this type of prize. If I keep scoring goals it will contribute to the team.
“I try not to think about the number of goals I score, it's more important to play step by step. I guess the next target for me will be 20 goals but the more important thing is that my team-mates provide me with a lot of good passes and chances so I can finish their good work. If I do that, I will contribute to our team.”
