Kyogo Furuhashi
Kyogo Furuhashi arrived at Celtic Park in the summer of 2021 on a four-year deal from Japanese side Vissel Kobe.
The Japanese international has been a revelation since joining the Hoops, scoring over 70 goals in his first three seasons which have been vital in the club’s five recent trophy wins.
Born in Ikoma, Nara, Japanese attacker Kyogo Furuhashi spent his early years playing football at Chuo University. In February 2017, he moved to Japanese lower league side FC Gifu and scored six goals in 44 appearances, assisting 11 times for team-mates in the process.
The following campaign, he scored 11 goals and assisted seven times for his peers in 26 appearances, before signing for J1 League outfit Vissel Kobe – again impressing there with five goals and an assist in 14 appearances.
From there, Kyogo played an integral role in Vissel Kobe’s Emperor’s Cup success of 2018/19 with a goal in the competition’s semi-final stage (a 3-1 win over Shimizu S-Pulse), before playing a full 90 minutes during a 2-0 final win over Kashima Antlers.
Before moving to Glasgow, Furuhashi featured a total of 111 times for Vissel Kobe – hitting 49 goals along the way – in a side captained by Andres Iniesta. The Spaniard was particularly complimentary of the Japanese attacker following his move to Paradise, keenly praising Celtic’s vocal supporters at the same time.
Kyogo made his Celtic debut when he came on as a late substitute in a 2-1 defeat against Hearts at Tynecastle on Matchday One of the 2021/22 Scottish Premiership campaign.
He scored his first goal in the Hoops in his first start against Jablonec in the UEFA Europa League on 5 August 2021 and in his next match against Dundee at Celtic Park, he netted a 67-minute hat-trick in a 6–0 win.
His goalscoring exploits soon made him a firm favourite with the Paradise faithful, his goals firing the Bhoys to League Cup and Scottish Premiership glory in his first full season, with his post-match celebrations being appreciated almost as much as his goals and the incredible work he does for the team.
When the big games come, Kyogo Furuhashi more often than not delivers the big moments. His 20 goal tally for the 2021/22 season included a brilliant double against Hibernian in the Scottish League Cup final at Hampden.
He followed up a sensational first season by firing the Hoops to a historic eighth treble in 2022/23, opening the scoring against Inverness Caledonian Thistle in the 3-1 victory that sealed the Scottish Cup and the Treble. The striker also scored twice to secure the first leg of the treble, the Scottish League Cup final, beating Rangers 2-1.
In his first three seasons at Paradise, Kyogo has accumulated three SPFL Premiership medals, two Scottish Cup medals and two League Cup gongs. He also scored in three of the cup final wins and was voted 2022/23 PFA Scotland and 2022/23 SFWA Player of the Year.
In 2023/24, the striker was pivotal to the club’s Cup wins with him being the joint top scorer with 19 goals, including two in the Champions League against Lazio and Atlético Madrid.
Just two years into his initial contract with Celtic, in June 2023, the Japanese striker signed a new four-year deal, taking him to at least 2027 with the club.
COUNTRY BHOY
At the age of 24, Kyogo Furuhashi made his international debut in a 4-1 friendly defeat to Venezuela, playing 45 minutes at the national side’s Japan National Stadium in Tokyo. The attacker’s first goals for his country came during a 14-0 World Cup qualifier win against Mongolia, when he hit a brace after featuring for just 19 minutes.
More recently he featured for Japan in the 2023 Kirin Cup alongside teammates Reo Hatate and Daizen Maeda.
