Kyogo Furuhashi in modest ‘I’m not a great player’ claim as Celtic striker addresses Japan World Cup omission and goals target

Kyogo Furuhashi has set his sights on scoring 30 goals for Celtic before the end of the season as the Japanese striker dismissed any speculation of an imminent transfer exit - insisting he is fully focused on winning silverware for the Parkhead club.

Despite netting 23 times in all competitions already this season, the current Scottish Premiership top scorer (19) reckons he is far from the finished article. His impressive goal tally has attracted interest from clubs in England, with Crystal Palace reportedly linked with a move for the Hoops star.

Furuhashi, who proved an instant hit with fans after signing from Vissel Kobe in the summer of 2021, opened up on the disappointment of missing out on a place in Japan’s World Cup squad by admitting he was left “inspired” after watching his country’s memorable run to the last-16 stage of the tournament.

The 28-year-old is motivated to thrust himself back into the international fold by maintaining his high performance level in a green and white jersey and believes there are aspects of his game that can be improved.

Speaking to German media, he said: “I want to be as successful as possible with this club. My focus is only on Celtic to be able to have the most possible success for the club. As a team, we want to win as many titles as possible with Celtic. As my personaly goal, I would like to score 30 goals this season.

“But of course, I don’t know what will happen in the future. So I just want to score as many goals as possible and contribute to the team’s victory.

“Obviously I’m not a great player, so I still need to keep working on my game and improving. My positional play, for example, or the timing when I offer myself for a pass, or that I will be even more varied in my finishing. I keep working on those things in training so that I can implement all of these processes in the game in the best possible way.

“I am very grateful because I have great team mates, club staff and fans who all always support me. Fans who cheer me on, a team of coaches who trust me as well as my team mates who fight for the ball with a lot of physical effort and create chances with wonderful passes.

“I want to repay everyone’s trust by scoring goals, running a lot, with and without the ball, to help the team win. After the World Cup squad announcement, I immediately switched my mind and concentrated on the upcoming Celtic Champions League game against Real Madrid, but I wasn’t able to play the way I had hoped for and I was therefore no help to our team.

“But I was very happy that my team mates kept encouraging me to help build me up again. So I was very determined to do even better and score more goals to not only win matches, but to make all my team mates smile. And during the World Cup, I was really inspired by the fighting spirit of the Japanese internationals.

“It was a bit different than watching previous tournaments because this time it was all players that I played with. This made me want to work on my skills even more and improve the quality of my game. I think that my development curve is currently pointing in a good direction.”