Kyogo Furuhashi admits he was taken aback and saddened by the departure of the manager who signed him for Stade Rennais.
Celtic sold Kyogo to the Ligue 1 side for £10m in the January transfer window after signalling his intent to leave Parkhead months beforehand.
He has since made his debut for Stade Rennais as a substitute against Strasbourg before being left on the bench for the next clash versus Saint-Etienne.
The 30-year-old is yet to score for his new side after playing his second match in a 2-0 defeat to Lille. And unfortunately in that particular encounter, Kyogo suffered a flare-up of a recurring shoulder problem.
It’s been a rough few weeks for Kyogo – and he has now revealed to Lemino Football, as per the Daily Record, that before even making his debut, he was dealt a crushing blow.
Kyogo’s reaction to Jorge Sampaoli’s Stade Rennais exit
Jorge Sampaoli was the man who brought Kyogo to Stade Rennais last month, but he was shown the exit door just two days after signing.
Stade Rennais – under Sampaoli – lost their first five matches of 2025 and that was enough to send the Argentinian coach packing.
Habib Beye has now been installed as Sampaoli’s successor as Kyogo addressed his ‘surprise and disappointment’ regarding the sacking of the man who signed him.
Kyogo said: “I spoke with the previous coach before signing the contract.
“I joined training for one or two days, and when I went in the morning the next day, everyone was talking about how the coach was going to be replaced. I was like ‘what?’ – I was surprised and disappointed.”
Habib Beye on Kyogo’s shoulder injury
Kyogo was forced out of Stade Rennais’ Ligue 1 clash with Lille due to his shoulder problem as he played just 17 minutes on his first start.
As quoted by The Herald, Beye addressed the impact of Kyogo’s injury on his team’s performance.
The former Senegal international said: “Red cards, injuries, they don’t help but I don’t want to use them as an excuse.
“Kyogo Furuhashi’s shoulder injury forces us to change system and, at that moment, we have a highlight, we had a boost of energy.
“I think our choices in the final third were not always the right ones, we lacked precision and offensive weight to put them under pressure.
“The problem is that, at one point, we played with nine, with the temporary exit of Kyogo Furuhashi.
“When you play with 10 against a team like Lille it’s difficult, then with nine… But I liked the state of mind of my players.
“We had the will to want to win the match with our intentions, and with what we put in place. We were dominated but the will was there.”
Receive a digest of our best Celtic content each week direct to your mailbox
