The Man City route towards interest in Celtic’s Kyogo could go back years

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Celtic fans will be anxiously awaiting more updates after news broke today that Manchester City are weighing up a move for Kyogo Furuhashi.

The Citizens sold Julian Alvarez to Atletico Madrid in an £82 million deal this summer and are on the lookout for attacking reinforcements following Oscar Bobb’s recent injury,

Furuhashi is on a two-man Manchester City shortlist, with a younger identified player said to be the alternative. Despite potentially becoming a squad option at the Etihad Stadium, the Japan international has a ‘desire’ to move south of the border and personal terms aren’t expected to be an issue.

Establishing himself as a hero among the Celtic support, the 29-year-old has scored 73 times in 135 appearances while in Scotland.

Premier League champions Manchester City are focusing on re-signing Ilkay Gundogan before turning their attention elsewhere, that deal is near completion now, according to Fabrizio Romano. In light of this developing story, there is another detail that could be a factor amid recent events.

Juan Manuel Lillo could be a factor in events, so could CFG

With the noise around Furuhashi’s future reaching fever pitch, it is important to know that Manchester City number two Juan Manuel Lillo worked with the striker in the 2018/19 season while both were at Vissel Kobe.

Making 37 appearances across the campaign, the Celtic icon netted 12 times and laid on nine assists before Lillo resigned in April 2019. Nevertheless, he will have a detailed understanding of Furuhashi’s exceptional movement and capacity to evade defenders regularly.

The City Football Group is a familiar organisation to Celtic fans, and it is also worth mentioning their potential influence amid recent developments.

As of 2014, the conglomerate has held a minority stakeholder position in Yokohama F. Marinos. Sharing a now decade-long alliance with the Premier League champions, their relationship will go well beyond surface level.

Manchester City are the main vehicle in the CFG’s transcontinental structure. To put it simply, they will likely have access to information on a worldwide database of players, many of whom plying their trade in Japanese football, spanning back years. This is another reason why interest in Furuhashi may not be as surprising as first thought.

When you consider that Celtic hired Ange Postecoglou from Yokohama F.Marinos and the club went down a path of regularly consulting the Far East market for players, there could be a semblance of dots starting to join. I have to state that this is only my rough estimations, but you see where I’m coming from.

Evaluating the situation, Celtic have enjoyed a close relationship with Manchester City, bringing in Jason Denayer, John Guidetti, Patrick Roberts and Olivier Ntcham from south of the border. That was a while back now, but there are intrinsic links between both clubs that go a long way.