‘Let’s not kid ourselves’ – Peter Grant is convinced he knows exactly why Kyogo Furuhashi is leaving Celtic

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Kyogo Furuhashi is expected to tie up his move from Celtic to Rennes in the coming days.

Hoops boss Brendan Rodgers cited Kyogo’s reason for wanting to leave Celtic Park was that the Japanese striker wanted a new challenge.

Kyogo is said to want to break into the Japan squad and sees a move away from the Bhoys to one of the top leagues in Europe as the avenue to do just that.

However, Celtic hero Peter Grant is not having those reasons and he is ‘in no doubt’ that he knows the real reason Kyogo wants to leave Celtic and it has nothing to do with any of the above.

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Peter Grant’s ‘interesting’ reason for Kyogo wanting to leave Celtic

Grant was asked about the move and when it was put to him that the Celtic talisman wanted to leave to progress his international career, the Hoops legend was having none of it.

Grant told The Go Radio Football Show [9m 25s], “It’s finance. Let’s not kid ourselves. He’s going for the money.

“He’s got a fantastic offer. There’s no doubt of that. And even Celtic, they’re thinking, well, I don’t know how long he’s got left. I’m surmising it’s gonna be 18 months. I’m surmising because that’s what they usually do. If it’s 18 months to go and get top dollar for them.

“The interesting thing for me is, there’s been talk about Kyogo for a while, but it’s only been Rennes. So what’s the perception of everybody else? We love him as Celtic supporters and in the Celtic team.”

Peter Grant questions Kyogo Furuhashi’s reasons for leaving Celtic for Rennes

Grant also cast doubt that the reason for the move to France was career-related and even questioned Kyogo’s ambition to move to Ligue 1 as he likened it to the Scottish Premiership.

“And I don’t think that’s the reason Kyogo’s going,” Grant continued, “I think he’s going there for the finance. Listen, would he be going to Rennes if they were offering him less money but they were offering Celtic £10m?

“Absolutely not a hope in Hell. There’s no chance of that. So let’s not kid ourselves there. He’s going for the finances. There is no doubt in my mind of that.

“You can say France is the top league. Yet again, it’s similar to Celtic in respect to that. It’s three or four teams you’d say in the French league. It’s not as if you’re going to Italy or Spain, where you’d say there are more teams in these leagues or Germany.

“He’s going to France, which is a decent league, but for me, it’s not the top, top league. And that’s why so many players leave it. And that’s why you had the Messi’s and Neymar’s to try and uplift it and that didn’t work.

“Top players in there, of course there is, but that’s not the reason Kyogo is going there.”

Whatever Kyogo’s actual reasons are there is one thing that cannot be denied, he was a fantastic servant for Celtic and lifted the club out of the doom and gloom of the COVID season.

After three and a half seasons, Kyogo has scored 85 goals and helped Celtic add seven trophies to their count.

The Japanese striker will go to Rennes with the well-wishes of the vast majority of the Celtic supporters and hope that he can be a success at the struggling Ligue 1 side.