Celtic’s board were not afraid to splash the cash to bolster Brendan Rodgers’ playing squad during the summer transfer window ahead of the 2024/25 campaign.
The Hoops were dealt a blow in the off-season, however, as Premier League side Brighton & Hove Albion swooped in to sign Matt O’Riley on a permanent deal.
Mikey Johnston, Hyeon-gyu Oh, Tomoki Iwata, and Saed Haksabanovic were among the other players who were allowed to move on from Parkhead, to make way for new signings to come through the door.
The headline arrival of the summer was the signing of Arne Engels from Augsburg. He was brought in from the Bundesliga outfit for a club-record fee of £11m, which shows how much the board were willing to back Rodgers in the market.
Engels was not the only high-profile addition, however, as £6m was spent to bring in Auston Trusty from Sheffield United, and a fee of up to £9.5m was agreed with Norwich City to bring Adam Idah back to the club.
The Irish marksman was signed on a permanent deal to come in and compete with Kyogo Furuhashi for a starting spot, as the Japan international’s output has declined in recent years.
Kyogo Furuhashi’s declining form
Under Ange Postecoglou in the 2022/23 campaign, the former Vissel Kobe star made a name for himself in Glasgow with an outstanding return of 27 goals in 36 appearances in the Scottish Premiership.
The impressive centre-forward only missed 16 ‘big chances’ and averaged a goal every 86 minutes in the division, which shows that he offered an incredibly consistent source of goals for the Australian head coach.
Unfortunately, however, he has been unable to replicate that sensational form in front of goal since Rodgers returned to Parkhead in the summer of 2023.
In the 2023/24 campaign, Kyogo only scored 14 goals in 38 appearances in the Scottish top-flight. His declining output was not down to a lack of service, though, as the Japan international missed a whopping 24 ‘big chances’.
This shows that his level of finishing dropped significantly, as the attacker failed to make the most of the high-quality opportunities that his teammates created for him.
As you can see in the table above, Kyogo has continued to struggle in front of goal in the current Premiership season, with almost three times as many ‘big chances’ missed as goals scored.
Since the start of last season, the 29-year-old striker has scored 19 goals and spurned 38 ‘big chances’ in the league, which shows that he has been incredibly wasteful during Rodgers’ tenure in charge.
Idah has been brought in to provide the manager with an alternative option to the Japanese lightweight and has had mixed success on the pitch this term.
Adam Idah’s form this season
The Ireland international joined on a permanent deal from Norwich in the summer transfer window after spending the second half of last season on loan from the Canaries.
Idah produced nine goals and two assists in 19 appearances in all competitions for the Scottish giants last term, including a 90th-minute winning goal against Rangers in the SFA Cup final at Hampden Park in the last match of his loan.
Rodgers then swooped to bring the 6 foot 3 marksman back to Paradise and he has largely been the back-up to Kyogo across all competitions this term.
The 23-year-old centre-forward has only started five times in the Premiership and the Champions League combined, which shows that the Japanese striker is still the preferred option in that position.
As you can see in the table above, Idah’s finishing has been better than Kyogo’s but still not perfect, with as many ‘big chances’ missed as goals scored across the two competitions.
Whilst, at 23, he still has plenty of time left to develop and improve to earn a starting spot in the team on a regular basis, Rodgers could look elsewhere to find a long-term replacement for the Japanese whiz, as there is a striker at the club who is thriving out on loan – Johnny Kenny.
Why Johnny Kenny could eventually replace Kyogo
The 21-year-old sensation is currently out on loan at Shamrock Rovers in Ireland and has enjoyed a terrific year in front of goal for his temporary club.
Kenny, who had scored 12 goals in 34 games for Sligo Rovers before his move to Celtic in 2022, has scored three goals in six games for the Hoops at youth level, but has spent the majority of his time out on loan.
After zero goals in 12 games for Queen’s Park at Championship level in the 2022/23 campaign, the Ireland U21 international went back to his home country to play for Shamrock Rovers, where he is now thriving.
His form in the current year, which has been described as “superb” by talent scout Jacek Kulig, has been very impressive and suggests that the youngster could be the long-term replacement to Kyogo that the Hoops have been searching for.
As you can see in the table above, Kenny has made a fantastic start to his European career with three goals and only one ‘big chance’ missed in four outings in the Conference League for the Irish side.
The Celtic loanee has also plundered an eye-catching 13 goals in 19 starts, along with two assists, in the Premier Division in Ireland, which shows that the youngster has provided consistent quality in front of goal domestically and in Europe this year.
Overall, Kenny has scored 17 goals and missed 15 ‘big chances’ across the two competitions, which shows that he has been reliable in the final third. Whereas, Kyogo has missed more ‘big chances’ than he has scored goals, and Idah is level on both.
Therefore, if the 21-year-old ace can translate that level of form over to Scotland, Rodgers could find his next starting centre-forward by bringing the Shamrock Rovers loanee back to Parkhead, either in January or next summer.
