Kyogo Furuhashi will not be travelling around the world mid-season to play for Japan, instead staying in Glasgow to focus on Celtic fixtures.
The Japanese striker has not been selected by national team manager Hajime Moriyasu for the upcoming Asian Cup, meaning the Bhoys won’t miss him in the immediate fixtures after the winter break.
Moriyasu’s final squad was named today and there’s no place for Kyogo despite his recent derby heroics.
The news will be a personal blow for Kyogo himself – he loves representing his country – but it can’t be denied that it’s a boost for Celtic in general.
Had Japan progressed to the final of the tournament, the striker would have missed four matches, including trips away to Aberdeen and Hibernian.
Daizen Maeda and Reo Hatate have both been called up for the tournament, however, so will miss several matches.
Hyunjun Yang and Hyeongyu Oh have also been selected for Jurgen Klinsmann’s South Korea squad.
Kyogo ready to push on to top Celtic form
Kyogo has had his ups and downs this season but he remains the club’s top scorer in all competitions with ten in total and has two goals in his last three matches.
The hope is that he has turned the corner away from poor scoring form that had some people raising questions and casting doubt about his place in the Celtic team.
He’s had his difficulties getting into Japan squads before and it seems his striking style doesn’t quite gel with the intentions of Moriyasu, who has consistently preferred to select Kyogo’s Celtic teammate Maeda.
Manager Brendan Rodgers previously confirmed that Celtic were looking at transfer and loan options to cover for Kyogo potentially heading off with Japan, so seeing what now transpires will be interesting.
The Bhoys could do with another attacker regardless.
In other news, Brendan Rodgers delivers hilarious post-match dig at the Rangers hype machine after Celtic win.
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