Lawrence Shankland makes Kyogo prediction Celtic fans will hope comes true

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Kyogo Furuhashi’s 2022/23 season for Celtic was a memorable one – not just as part of the team but from a personal point of view too.

The Hoops secured a world-record eighth domestic Treble under the stewardship of Ange Postecoglou after beating Inverness Caledonian Thistle in the Scottish Cup Final last summer.

The Japanese superstar netted in the 3-1 win and thus took his tally of goals for the season to an incredible 34 in 50 games [Transfermarkt].

He had already secured the Scottish Premiership golden boot award for his 27 league strikes, beating the likes of Kevin van Veen (25) and Lawrence Shankland (24).

And despite the change of manager in the summer as Brendan Rodgers replaced Postecoglou in the Parkhead hotseat, you’d have bet your bottom dollar on Kyogo replicating the same kind of scintillating form.

Unfortunately, it hasn’t turned out that way this season. Kyogo has had an under-par campaign thus far and the same can be said for Celtic, despite being top of the league by three points.

We are into February now and Kyogo has netted just eight Premiership goals, very much unlike the 29-year-old from recent years.

Shankland is the current leader for the 2023/24 golden boot and has scored nine more than Kyogo in the league [BBC Sport Scotland]. But the Hearts talisman has now made a prediction about the former Vissel Kobe star that Celtic fans will hope comes to fruition.

Lawrence Shankland’s Kyogo admission

Shankland wasn’t good enough last season to beat Kyogo’s 27-goal Premiership haul but has the run on the latter this campaign.

And while Shankland is targeting more than 30 goals this year, he is mindful of the competition he will face from now until the end of the campaign and thinks Kyogo will resurrect his goal-scoring exploits for the Hoops.

Asked about reaching 30 goals for the season, Shankland replied: “Aye, because it’s doable once you get to this stage. I’ve always been the type who thinks about getting one more and then one more, because if you do that they all add up. So I’ll just keep doing that and see where we are at the end of the season.”

The Scotland international – who was linked with Celtic in January – continued: “Do I want to be top scorer? Of course. Last season I had a run but didn’t make it. So where I am this year, I’d love to keep going and make it.

“Bojan Miovski is doing well at Aberdeen and scoring goals and I’d imagine Kyogo will hit a bit of form as well. There are a lot of good strikers in this league, so you can’t get too caught up in it. I’ll just keep plodding away.”