Secret Kyogo transfer exit sees Celtic unlock the unforeseen and set in motion a £50m dream team – Keith Jackson
When emotions are running high there’s always a danger that good old logic gets trampled underneath.
And right now - following in the fug of the unprocessable drama from a landmark Champions League night in Glasgow’s east end on Wednesday - there may be a temptation to rush into snap conclusions. Perhaps even to resort to the whorey old default position of railing against the decision makers in the VIP seats - and accusing them of prioritising numbers on the balance sheet over the contents of the trophy cabinet.
They should know better by now, of course. But, in the fuzzy headed heat of the moment, some things will never change. So, amidst the marvellous chaos in the immediate aftermath of that euphoric late win over Young Boys, they were suddenly forced to grapple with the prospect that it may quickly turn out to be some kind of pyrrhic victory. The ultimate unwanted downer. Three more points and a place secured in the knock-out rounds of the only show Brendan Rodgers wanted to bring to town.
But, as a result of reaching this milestone with one game still to spare, Celtic have also unlocked a scenario which very few of these fans could realistically have envisaged. Within minutes of the final blast of the referee’s whistle and the joyous bedlam which accompanied it, news was emerging from across the channel of a £10m bid for talismanic striker Kyogo Furuhashi.
A January deal struck in secret with Rennes which could be expedited the moment Rodgers had negotiated his side’s path into the play-offs. And the stomach churning realisation that this little magician from the Far East may have pulled on a hooped shirt for the very last time, long before they were good and ready to say their sayonaras.
Of course, the finer details of this reported agreement are still to be confirmed and are expected to crystallise over the coming days. But, for many, the very thought of allowing Kyogo to part company with their club at this particular point in time, with so much still to be settled over the remainder of the current campaign, flies in the face of what their football club is supposed to be all about.
They may even be knee jerked into believing that those in charge of minding the purse strings have sanctioned what amounts to a blatant cash grab, now that the profits from UEFA’s vault have been maximised by nailing down the millions which come with a place in the top 24.
Naturally, reality dictates Celtic are not going to win the Champions League. And that concession comes with a nagging suspicion that the business brains in the boardroom may at some point choose to cash in as many chips as they can before walking away from the high rollers table with pockets stuffed. But surely, when their feet touch back down on solid ground, the vast majority of Celtic’s people will also accept that the men in charge of running their club have a very diligent and precise idea of how best to do it.
Long gone are the days when previous regimes squeezed the club until its pips squeaked. Over the last couple of decades, the club’s affairs have been managed immaculately with the dual purpose of maximising returns on the pitch every bit as much as off it. These men are smart enough to understand that achieving success on both fronts simultaneously is not some sort of idealistic nirvana. On the contrary, it’s an absolute necessity.
If Celtic are not successful where it matters most to the customers, then they cannot expect to achieve the numbers required to keep the money rolling in and the accountants happy. These two aims are not mutually exclusive. On the contrary, they are bedmates. Which brings us back to the decision to do a deal for Kyogo and the logic which must almost certainly be underpinning Celtic’s thought process.
The business plan is easy enough even for the financially illiterate to understand. The striker was signed in July 2021 for a fee of £4.5m In the subsequent three and a half years he has netted 85 goals, helping to deliver three league titles, two Scottish Cups and three League Cups. In doing so he has created priceless memories which will last a lifetime.
And now, having turned 30 just a matter of days ago, he will move on for more than twice what was paid for him in the first place. Given that the champions may also be about to secure the return of Kieran Tierney without paying Arsenal a fee before the month is out - less than five years after the left-back was sold to the Londoners for £25m - can there really be anyone out there who still doubts Celtic’s business credentials?
If chairman Peter Lawwell and CEO Michael Nicholson apply for a shot on Ant and Dec’s Limitless Win, ITV’s liability insurers would be reduced to a state of blind panic. So let’s not jump the gun into accusing anyone inside Celtic’s chain of command of a failure to properly think things through.
If, in their combined wisdom, they have decided that there is value in allowing Kyogo to midway through the ongoing season, then it stands to reason they have already pushed the button on a water tight contingency plan. They will not have removed a scalpel from the hands of Rodgers at this delicate stage in the operation while leaving him to finish off the job with a blunt instrument.
For now, what the solution looks like remains to be seen. It could involve another returning son in winger Jota, who was also traded for a fortune not that long ago. Who knows? That may allow Rodgers to unleash Tierney and Jota on Celtic’s left hand side as a £50m dream team - while Alistair Johnston and Nicolas Kuhn continue to wreak all manner of havoc on the other flank.
Perhaps Rodgers sees Daizen Maeda and Adam Idah competing to fill Kyogo’s shooting boots through the middle. Maybe he sees Aston Villa’s Louie Barry as the Japanese international’s ready made replacement. Or could it be that Rodgers has already identified a more experienced and expensive target - and received cast iron assurances from above that the money will be there to finance any such deal before the window closes over?
As always, the devil will be in the details. But, it can be assumed with a degree of certainty that all of the above scenarios make more sense than the notion that Celtic might have been strong-armed into doing a deal against their will. Or one which does not meet their better judgement.
