Brendan Rodgers has detailed the potential reasons for Kyogo looking for a Celtic exit this month.
The striker is closing in on a switch to Rennes in Ligue 1 after flying to France to complete the deal.
It is believed to be worth around £10million for Celts with Jota heading back to Glasgow the other way for around £8.4m.
Rodgers broke his silence on both deals this afternoon as he explained how it was not a sale the club wanted to make.
The manager told how Kyogo had asked to leave Celtic earlier this season and when an offer came across the table, it was then difficult to stand in his way.
Kyogo played his final match against Young Boys in the Champions League and has developed significantly as a player in Scotland but Rodgers feels the chance of one last new adventure may have been too good to turn down.
- READ MORE: Kyogo told Celtic risk was ‘worth taking’ despite disallowed Champions League goal vs Young Boys
Kyogo wanted ‘new challenge’, says Celtic boss Rodgers
Rodgers reiterated that Kyogo has loved the club during his years in the country but despite Celtic’s attempts to convince him to stay, once a player’s mind is made up it is about getting best value for the team.
“I think it’s a great place to be,” Rodgers said on Celtic.
“But their careers are short. He’s 30 years of age now. And they want these new challenges. He’s achieved so much here at Celtic.
“But that opportunity at this time in his career to go into what would be one of the top five leagues was something that was maybe too good for him to turn down. I think it was more just something new for him. A new challenge.
“He’s obviously loved the club. He’s loved everything about being here. But players’ careers are short.
“As much as we want to convince them to stay and be here, the minute they want to move and the representatives say they want to move, then we have to do the best for the club.
“Now, the Japanese squad has obviously many really good players in them. But I think that you can show that by being here and winning and playing the type of football that we play and playing at the highest level, you can still achieve everything that you would like to.
“But obviously, naturally, there’s a feeling that when you’ve been somewhere, you may want to move on. It might be the weather. Maybe the weather just wasn’t quite what you wanted!
Celtic’s chances of signing striker replacement
Rodgers’ desire for a new striker will be accelerated this week with their number one pick halfway out the door.
And the manager is confident his side can make it happen after the hard work was done in advance.
Mathias Kvistgaarden has been linked and Louie Barry remains an option, and while the boss refused to discuss names, he did say he hoped to replace Kyogo sooner rather than later.
“As I said, it’s been in the making for a while,” he added.
“So there’s been a lot of work going on behind the scenes and hopefully, we can get someone to add that strength to our squad.”
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