Kyogo Furuhashi sends hopeful Celtic Instagram message after injury absence

By David Walton

September 15, 2021

Celtic striker Kyogo Furuhashi has sent a hopeful Instagram message to supporters as he stated he’ll be back “soon”.

The Hoops were rocked with news that the Japanese international would be missing for up to a month with a knee injury [BBC]. This came at a time when the new summer signing from Vissel Kobe was flying too.

Furuhashi has quickly become a fans’ favourite at Parkhead, scoring a blistering seven goals in nine Celtic appearances [Transfermarkt]. His injury knock could see him miss as many as seven matches all in before the next international break. But as Celtic continue to look for solutions without their talisman, he’s provided some positive vibes on Instagram today with the following post:

Ange Postecoglou had to utilise Albian Ajeti on Saturday in Celtic’s 3-0 win against Ross County. Our second game without Furuhashi comes tomorrow night against Real Betis in the Europa League.

New Greek forward Giorgos Giakoumakis also isn’t ready to start in Andalusia.

No guarantee Kyogo misses all Celtic games before internationals

Of course, there is still hope that his recovery could go better than first thought. The former Vissel Kobe man was diagnosed by Ange to be out for three to four weeks. If it’s the former, that means he would only have a fortnight more out of contention.

Should that be the case, he could still return for the match against Bayer Leverkusen at Celtic Park on September 30th. More realistically, tricky-looking Pittodrie trip three days later.

Celtic fans would love to see him back as soon as possible regardless. Then again, it’s just as important that the striker is given as much time to recover as possible. At the very latest, he should return in time for the first match after the October break at Fir Park.

Celtic are feeling the effects of Kyogo’s injury badly at the moment simply due to a lack of alternative options. Outside of Ajeti, we have nobody else who can fill that void for now. Hopefully, Giakoumakis can start making some form of contribution from this weekend onward.

So long as we get at least a second striker available, it should minimise the negative effects of Kyogo’s injury. In any case, we wish our new number 8 the quickest of recoveries.

In other news, Celtic winger Mikey Johnston finally pictured back in full training