Kyogo Furuhashi handed £20m price tag by ex-Celtic star, with Ange Postecoglou tipped for another Champions League campaign

The Hoops talisman is expected to be a man in demand this summer due to his goal scoring exploits to date.
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Alan Stubbs has placed a £20million price tag on Celtic striker Kyogo Furuhashi - insisting the Japanese star has attacking qualities similar to legendary Hoops icon Henrik Larsson.

Furuhashi, who has scored 26 goals in all competitions so far this season, quickly established himself as a firm favourite among supporters since arriving in Glasgow from the J-League. He netted 20 times in his debut campaign and continues to attract interest from clubs across Europe.

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Manager Ange Postecoglou has enjoyed plenty of success in the Asian transfer market, while he has sold high profile players such as Josip Juranovic and Giorgos Giakoumakis in the January window. Winger Liel Abada is the latest star to be linked with a big money exit this summer.

Celtic's Kyogo Furuhashi is among the frontrunners for the Player of the Year award. (Photo by Craig Williamson / SNS Group)Celtic's Kyogo Furuhashi is among the frontrunners for the Player of the Year award. (Photo by Craig Williamson / SNS Group)
Celtic's Kyogo Furuhashi is among the frontrunners for the Player of the Year award. (Photo by Craig Williamson / SNS Group)

Former Celtic defender Stubbs reckons the Aussie boss doesn’t have to sell anyone at the end of this season with Champions League money continuing to leave the club’s financial position looking ‘very healthy’. However, he reckons if they were to receive a offer worth exploring for Kyogo, it would take a huge sum to lure him away from Parkhead.

Speaking to Grosvenor Sport, Stubbs admitted: “The big thing for Celtic is the financial position they find themselves in. I think the playing field they are on now is different and improved to five years ago. Then they might have had to sell a player but now they don’t have to because the balance sheet is very healthy.

“And if they are tested over Kyogo then they are going to make sure that he will go for top dollar and let’s be honest he won’t go for anything less than £20million.

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“I think Kyogo has been exciting since the day he arrived. I was interested to hear Ange’s comments that the team are not giving him the best service. He’s always making intelligent runs and he must be so difficult for defenders to deal with because his timing is so good. I think Ange is alluding to the fact that players are not reading his runs all the time and if they do he’s only going to score more goals.

“I can understand why fans are making comparisons with Henrik Larsson and if you’re getting mentioned in the same breath as him then you know he’s doing something very special.”

Stubbs is expecting Postecoglou to remain at Celtic next season for another crack at the UEFA Champions League amid links to the Tottenham Hotspur job as pressure continues to intensify on Antonio Conte.

While admitting he could easily manage one of the top clubs in the Premier League, Stubbs believes the former Yokohama F. Marinos head coach will stay put as he highlighted the main difference between Postecoglou’s team and Brendan Rodgers ‘Invincibles’.

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He added: “I think Ange’s team has more of an edge to it in terms of how they press and they are more aggressive. The job he’s doing is more impressive than Brendan because he’s doing it with players that not a lot of people had heard about.

“Brendan brought in players that were tried and tested in English football, signed the better players in Scotland and found some good players from abroad and had better players anyway. But Ange has unearthed gems and their value is going through the roof so the Celtic board must be absolutely cock-a-hoop about the job that he’s doing.

Celtic manager Ange Postecoglou is on course to land a treble with Celtic this season.Celtic manager Ange Postecoglou is on course to land a treble with Celtic this season.
Celtic manager Ange Postecoglou is on course to land a treble with Celtic this season.

“The way I hear him talking he seems very content. He seems very at ease and there is no big rush to move onto the next project. He seems a very astute and very intelligent man and the players look like they enjoy playing for him.

“He has been linked with a few jobs in England. It looks like Tottenham is the biggest one on the go right now and I have no doubt that Ange will feel he can do that job but it’s whether the owners feel the same way. I have a feeling he wants to achieve more at Celtic. Not just this season. He’s got one trophy in the bag, he’s effectively won the league and could win the treble.

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“But I think he wants another crack at the Champions League. I’m sure he’ll desperately want to improve on what they did this season. It’s the one area he will feel there are big improvements to be made.”

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