Celtic boss Ange Postecoglou snared an absolute belter when he signed Kyogo Furuhashi.
From his first touches against FK Jablonec, the guy looked special. 67 Hail Hail named him as a player we hoped Ange would bring with him from the J League, and he’s been utterly sensational. The 27-year-old has 21 goal involvements from 26 games; a stunning return in anyone’s book [Transfermarkt].
It’s a real wonder that Ange Postecoglou went unopposed in bringing the former J League star to Europe. And the Celtic boss, speaking to Optus Sports, sounded as surprised as anyone.
Speaking about Kyogo, and the talent in Asia more generally, Ange said [Optus Sports]: “Kyogo Furuhashi, for me, can play at the highest level.
“I had no doubt, but because he was coming from Japan, there’s always again, it’s because it’s the other side of the world. It’s like I said, it’s an untapped market, it’s a lot easier to sign a South American player or a European player.
“I know the young players there, they want to be as successful as they possibly can. And, you know, the German league has had so many fantastic Japanese players playing there, but I go beyond Japan, I think Asian players in general, there’s players from Iran and Saudi [Arabia] that you think they could play in Europe very easily, top talents.”
Ange Postecoglou did fantastic work bringing Kyogo to Celtic
Though he’s been injured since late 2021, there’s still a very strong argument that Kyogo is our signing of the season.
It’s hard to remember a player making such instant, sustained impact. Call it recency bias, but it’s difficult to recall someone scoring so many important goals within such a short time. The phrase “hit the ground running” seems as if it was invented pre-emptively for Kyogo at Celtic.
Even though football is a global game, the transfer market seems quite narrow, still. Signing players from outside Europe is still seen as a major risk, unless we’re talking talents like Neymar from Santos in 2013. The Euro-centric worldview of football has prevented some of the most talented players from making a mark on the biggest stages, in terms of audience size.
Perhaps that’ll properly change one day, but that time doesn’t feel like it’s coming soon.
As we saw in late December, Ange and Celtic have unique knowledge of the Japanese market. We’re in a position where we have the pull and the personality of Ange Postecoglou to ensure a league’s best talents can be picked up for minimal cost.
It won’t last forever, of course. However, until that point, it’s a very good situation to be in.
We know all about playing in an underrated league, of course. However, with the resources and knowledge Celtic have, don’t be surprised if a few more talents from places like Iran, Saudi Arabia or South Korea head our way over the next few transfer windows.
Read more: Ange Postecoglou explains the role Peter Lawwell had in bringing him to Celtic
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