Celtic endured a difficult period over the summer as they lost a number of key figures, on and off the pitch, after their treble-winning 2022/23 campaign.
Ange Postecoglou led the club to a domestic treble and, within weeks, then secured a switch to Premier League side Tottenham Hotspur to take his career to the next level.
On the pitch, the Hoops lost key first-team stars as Carl Starfelt and Jota – for an astonishing £25m – were both sold and Aaron Mooy confirmed his retirement.
They did, however, manage to keep hold of central midfielder Matt O'Riley after they reportedly rejected offers from Bologna and Leeds United for the Denmark U21 international.
However, speculation over the future of Brendan Rodgers' star players has not gone away since the end of the summer transfer window and the Northern Irish head coach may be concerned ahead of the turn of the year.
The January window will provide clubs with the opportunity to come in and make offers for Celtic's best gems, with Kyogo Furuhashi being one of them.
Celtic transfer news – Kyogo Furuhashi
TEAMtalk recently reported that the Japan international is being eyed by Bundesliga outfit Union Berlin and Premier League side Brentford.
The Bees are said to be looking at the Hoops centre-forward as a possible replacement for England international Ivan Toney, if the centre-forward completes a move away from Thomas Frank's side in January.
It is not stated whether or not either of those clubs are now preparing to make an offer for his services, or how much they would be willing to spend on him.
However, the outlet did report that it would take a bid of around £20m in order to tempt the Scottish giants into parting ways with their talismanic marksman midway through the 2023/24 campaign.
The Hoops do not want to lose any more of their best players and are holding out for a significant fee, as they did when Jota left for £25m, whilst it is stated that O'Riley is 'likely' to move on.
It is also worth mentioning that TEAMtalk claim Kyogo is very happy in Glasgow and is in no rush to move on from the club, which does not suggest that the forward will throw his toys out of the pram and push for an exit in January if other teams do come in for his services.
This puts Celtic in a strong position and one that could see them make a sizeable profit on the Japan international, whose £20m valuation shows that Postecoglou hit the jackpot when he signed him in 2021.
The fee Celtic paid for Kyogo
The Hoops reportedly spent just over £4m to secure his services ahead of the 2021/22 campaign after his impressive form for Vissel Kobe in Japan.
Kyogo arrived in Scotland off the back of an eye-catching first half of the 2021 J1 League campaign with his former club as a lethal goalscorer.
The impressive finisher, who was hailed as "outstanding" by Postecoglou, racked up an exceptional 15 goals and two assists in 20 league starts, which highlighted his ability to find the back of the net on a regular basis.
This came after his return of 13 goals and five assists in 25 J1 League starts for Kobe throughout the 2020 season. These statistics show that he improved over the course of his last two seasons in Japan as his scoring rate increased with more experience at that level.
In total, Kyogo scored 49 goals and provided 18 assists in 111 matches for the Japanese outfit, which came after 17 goals and 18 assists in 77 appearances for FC Gifu at the start of his senior career.
His sublime form in his home country convinced Postecoglou and Celtic to splash around £4m to secure his signature and that has turned out to be a bargain for the Scottish giants.
Kyogo's goal record for Celtic
The 5 foot 7 marksman has been a consistently reliable figure at the top end of the pitch for the Bhoys at Scottish Premiership level over the past two-and-a-half seasons.
Kyogo hit the ground running in Scotland with an excellent return of 12 goals and four 'big chances' created in 16 top-flight starts for the side during the 2021/22 campaign.
He followed that up with an incredible 2022/23 season as the Japan international consistently punished opposition teams to help the Hoops secure the title.
The 28-year-old whiz ended the term with a staggering 27 goals and two assists in 31 Scottish top-flight starts for Postecoglou, which proved that he has the quality to find the back of the net at an exceptional rate at that level.
His amazing performances were recognised by his peers as Kyogo was crowned the PFA Scotland Player of the Year for the 2022/23 campaign. This showed that his fellow professionals viewed him as the top performer in the country for his fantastic goalscoring exploits.
The ex-Vissel Kobe star's output has slowed down this season as the forward has only found the back of the net six times in 13 Premiership games. However, he is still the club's top-scorer, alongside Matt O'Riley and David Turnbull, and remains the figurehead of their attack.
Kyogo has also shown signs of being a great option on the European stage for Celtic with two goals in four Champions League appearances for Rodgers so far this season, with strikes against Lazio and Atletico Madrid.
Why Postecoglou hit the jackpot with Kyogo
The former Hoops boss struck gold with the signing of the Japanese dynamo as he has proven himself to be a fantastic player on the pitch for the club with his consistent stream of goals at Premiership level.
His current £20m valuation by the Bhoys, amid interest from other teams in Europe, also shows that his value has rocketed up during his time in Scotland.
£20m is a staggering 400% increase on the roughly £4m that was paid to secure his services from Vissel Kobe just over two years ago under Postecoglou.
Therefore, Celtic would make a gigantic profit on Kyogo in January if they now decide to cash in on him, should a side come in with an acceptable bid within that region.
