Soccer

Martin O’Neill admits Celtic return for Kyogo Furuhashi seems ‘unlikely’

Published by Gavin McCafferty

9, Jan

Celtic manager Martin O’Neill has admitted a return for Kyogo Furuhashi is “unlikely” as the striker wants to prove himself at Birmingham.

The Scottish champions are still looking for an adequate replacement for the Japan international, 12 months on from his move to Rennes.

The 30-year-old struggled for game time in France and has encountered a crisis of confidence in front of goal since switching to Birmingham, netting just once in 25 appearances.

v2-image-production-937755883f5e45d33e4c506cc381884cY29udGVudHNlYXJjaGFwaSwxNzY4MDU4Nzcx-2.78499002 — Kyogo Furuhashi enjoyed a successful spell at Celtic (Andrew Milligan/PA)

But he appears to have passed on the offer to return on a loan basis to Celtic, where he scored 85 goals in 165 appearances.

When asked about the prospect of a return for the forward, O’Neill said: “I would have said that would probably be unlikely.

“I think there is a viewpoint that he wants to really prove himself at Birmingham, which is no surprise.”

Celtic have also been linked with a move for 22-year-old Canada and Hajduk Split midfielder Niko Sigur.

v2-image-production-38b6ae9eb984c9bcbeb59c6d51a8ee35Y29udGVudHNlYXJjaGFwaSwxNzY4MDU4NTI2-2.82995470 — Martin O’Neill was back on the pitch at Celtic’s Lennoxtown Training Complex (Steve Welsh/PA)

And 20-year-old Ivorian winger Jocelin Ta Bi has been quoted as saying he is on his way to Celtic from Israeli club Maccabi Netanya.

O’Neill could not confirm that any signings were imminent.

“Doing plenty of work on it, seriously and I know that’s a big generalisation,” he said ahead of his first match back in the dugout against Dundee United on Saturday.

“We are doing that and hopefully try and get a few players in. But there’s a lot of work going on at the moment. We are well aware that we have to supplement the squad.”