The summer transfer window is not far away, and naturally, Celtic have found their name in the headlines quite often. Brendan Rodgers has made it clear that he will look to strengthen his squad and make some changes, having seen his team struggle in the second half of the season. One addition they need to make is up top, having never replaced Kyogo Furuhashi, who left in the winter for Rennes.
Could Kyogo end up being his own replacement? That is because the Japanese forward has been constantly linked with a return to Celtic Park in recent months, thanks to his Rennes career not taking off.
Things took a turn for the worse for Kyogo this weekend. And in the aftermath, expect the Celtic return rumours to grow even stronger, as it does not look like he has any future at Rennes.
As reported by Ouest France, Kyogo was not selected by Habib Beye for the derby between Stade Rennais and FC Nantes. With a nearly full squad, that was only missing Alidu Seidu and Ayanda Sishuba, the coach had to make choices and leave out several players. Thus, for the first time since his arrival in France at the end of January, the Japanese forward was left out of the matchday squad completely.
Celtic supporters left stunned by worrying Kyogo decision
It is safe to say that Celtic fans were not happy to see how things have turned out for Kyogo at Rennes. One wrote: "Sad to see how this has gone. Always felt the move to Rennes was not the right one for him."
It will be interesting to see what the future holds for Kyogo. It would be safe to say that things cannot continue in this manner for much longer, if he is to make it to the next World Cup with Japan.
Would Celtic signing him back make sense for the Hoops at this point in time? It would, but only if he is available for a fraction of the transfer fee Rennes shelled out to sign Kyogo just a couple of months back.