Celtic striker Kyogo Furuhashi has set himself the target of reaching 30 goals for the Hoops this season.
The 27-year-old has started the 2022/23 campaign off in fine form, scoring in four of the five Scottish Premiership fixtures so far.
After scoring once in each of the Bhoys’ outings against Ross County, Kilmarnock and Hearts, Kyogo stepped things up a notch on Sunday, adding three goals to his tally for the season.
The Japanese internationalist set the tone for Celtic’s emphatic 9-0 win over Dundee United with a first-half hat-trick which included a variation of finishes.
Kyogo made an impressive start to life at Parkhead upon his arrival last summer, scoring a hat-trick against Dundee in his first start at the Hoops’ home venue.
It is fair to say the former Vissel Kobe man looked well on his way to notching a barrowload of goals during his first season. However, the striker suffered a serious hamstring injury in late December, which kept him out for several months.
In the end, Kyogo still finished the campaign as the top scorer in all competitions for Ange Postecoglou’s side, scoring 20 goals in total and finishing three goals ahead of Giorgos Giakoumakis.
After undergoing a full pre-season for the first time under the Celtic manager, Kyogo will have been aiming to have an injury-free campaign and top his tally from his first year in green and white.
And with his early form so far, only five games into the new Scottish Premiership season, he looks well on his way to doing exactly that.
Speaking in the aftermath of his three goals against United on Sunday, Kyogo revealed his target goal tally is 30 goals for the season and insisted he hopes to keep up his form, which has seen him score five in his first six games.
He said [Sun Sport]: “First of all, my teammates always provide me with good passes.
“The first aim would be 20 goals — and then I would like to reach 30 and more.
“Today was amazing. We could just express what we’ve been working on, so we want to keep working more and keep having good results.
“Recently, I’ve just had one goal per game, but I got three goals in this match. We just have to focus on each game, and we would like to get a good result so that our fans can enjoy our games.
“But we still have a lot to do and a lot more to improve, so we will keep working hard.”
Kyogo looks well on his way to high-scoring Celtic tally this season.
Of course, with any aim like this, there is always the caveat of potential injury issues that can’t currently be accounted for. But, on current form, Kyogo looks on track to reach another high-scoring goal tally.
The striker has started the season off on superb form and is playing full of confidence within this free-flowing attacking Celtic side.
On Sunday afternoon, he also showcased that brilliant ability to score different types of goals, from long-range strikes to intelligent tap-ins from close range.
Ange Postecoglou’s side will face another hectic fixture schedule this campaign, including at least six outings in the Champions League.
So, Kyogo should have plenty of game time to try and reach another impressive goals tally, with a chance to perform on one of the biggest stages of them all in football.
It is exciting to hear that he is aiming to achieve a feat that was last achieved in the 2016/17 season by ex-Celtic striker Moussa Dembele [Transfermarkt].
In other news, “Top, top team” – SPFL boss praises Ange Postecoglou as he predicts further Celtic thrashings.
Receive a digest of our best Celtic content each week direct to your mailbox
